The development of a writer's social perspective: an assessment of Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's selected texts.

Abstract

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is East Africa1s foremost novelist and is one of Africa's most prolific and progressive writers. As a controversial author and critic, he has been at the forefront in calling for a vital critical tradition as a vigorous need in the analysis of our society's current problems. Despite the variety and intensity of the themes which his works deal with, Ngugi has continued to receive inordinately little positive critical attention. By virtue of his radical views on political, socioeconomic and cultural issues, Ngugi represents Africa on the platform of Third World writers who are striving towards the total liberation of their peoples from the effects of imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism. Critics, therefore, cannot seriously afford to ignore Ngugi wa Thiong'o in any discussion of Kenyan, African or Third World literature today. No study exists to date which attempts to put together all of Ngugi1s extant literary output and derive a comprehensive picture of his progression from his earlier to his more recent works, which include a play and a novel in Gikuyu. In addition, no consistent, cohesive, appraisal of Ngugi1s works is in evidence that traces the development of Ngugi1s range of vision in terms - vi - of his concerns and preoccupations. This thesis is an attempt to correct this discrepancy by evolving a more comprehensive analysis which will place Ngugi's works in their broad perspective and which will relate these works to the continuing struggle for the realization of a more humane society. Since all art springs' from an ideological conception of the world, there is no such thing as a work of art devoid of ideological content. Ngugi wa Thiong'o's literary output is a response to the nature of specific conditions; written against the background of contemporary African history and the global movement for change, it reflects the impact of events. The context ;s imperialism - concrete and intolerably continuing. A cross-section of Ngugi 's works at the moment reveals that Ngugi has progressed from the position of a cultural nationalist to that of a revolutionary idealist. In the process he has discarded his preoccupation with blackness, with fatalism and pessimism. His latest works demonstrate Ngugi's emphasis on Manis capacity to make himself, that is, to understand his material situation and to act consciously in order to change it andthus transform the world. - vii - Ngugi ;s concerned with a positive re-interpretation of our history; he is also concerned with establishing genuine communication between the writer and his audience, hence his recent advocacy of writing in the"national· languages of Kenya in order to reach, and reflect the social condition of, the writer's chosen audience. The first chapter delineates the problem, defines the theoretical framework used and reviews existing representative literature on the subject. Chapter Two deals with the early stage in Ngugi's writing that examines the issues of cultural conflict, education and the messianic concept. The middle stage, focusing mainly on the freedom struggle, is examined in Chapter Three. The fourth chapter looks at the contemporary situation. Chapter Five forms the conclusion. In this thesis, Ngugi's works are not seen as isolated single works, but their content is placed along a historical continuum so as to show how Ngug; responds to different historical situations and how his vision has changed with time.