Literature and Cultural Nationalism in Selected Novels Of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

Abstract

Literature embodies a wide range of human experiences, dealing with man in his immediate environment. Africa encompasses a diverse range of traditional beliefs and cultural traditions that are occasionally shared by numerous societies. These ideas and rituals are developed from the people's revered culture and they provide a connection between people's historical heritage and the current day. This paper adopts Library-based research or content analysis using Ngugi wa Thiongo’s novels Weep Not, Child, The River Between, Petals of Blood and Wizard of the Crow as primary sources of data and other critical literary materials about Ngugi’s literary ouvres as secondary sources of data. Employing Marxism, Ngugi’s Globalectics theory and the politics of knowing and mythology as interpretative ideologies, the paper examine Ngugi wa Thiongo’s approach in trying to wrestle Africa’s cultural heritage from the Neo-colonial whims of the West in collusion with African elites in the era of globalizatioin. This paper therefore analyses Ngugi’s cultural nationalism project and the effectiveness of his advocacy for resistance and rejection of bad leadership in Africa by the teaming masses of Africa..