Sunday, 8 March 2020

Assignment:A Grain of Wheat’ How Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Shifted from Class Analysis to a Neo- Colonialist Perspective

 Topic:- ‘A Grain of Wheat’  How Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Shifted from Class Analysis to a Neo- Colonialist Perspective.
Department of English, MKBU

Name:- Kailas Gohil
Roll No:- 13
Semester:-4







Introduction:-

About Ngugi Wa Thiong’o:

'A Grain of Wheat’ is a Novel written by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.  He was born in 5 January 1938. He was writes primarily in Gikuyu. He was Kenyan novelist. He was writes includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children' s literature. His first published as part of the influential Heinemann Africa Writers series.
His Awards…
1. Lotus prize for Literature  (1973)
2. WeNonino International Prize for Literature (2001)
3. Notional Book Critics Circle Award (2012)
4. Park Kyong ni  Prize (2016)
5. Grand Prix Des Mecenes of the GPLA (2018)
6. For his Entire bode of Work (2018)

His Novels…
1. Weep Not, child, (1964)
2. The River Between (1965)
3. A Grain of Wheat’ (1967- 1992)
4. Petals of Blood (1977)
5. Devil in the cross, (1989)
6. Wangui Was Goro (1989)
7. Wizard of the  Crow, (2004). 

Thiong’o shifted from class analysis to a Neo- Colonialist Perspective:
  During the Mau Mau rebellion Ngũgĩ was being educated in the rather secure setting of Alliance High School, an élite boarding institution. His brother joined the uprising between 1954 and 1956, and his parents and other relatives were detained by the British. A stepbrother of Ngũgĩ, of the same name and condition as the deaf and dumb Gitogo who is shot dead by government forces in A Grain of Wheat, died in almost identical circumstances. The village of Kamiriithu was forcibly moved to a new site. Cook, David and Okenimkpe, Michael, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: an exploration of his writings.
For the other great epic rewriting African history, see Beti, Mongo, Remember Ruben (Paris, 1974), translated by Gerald Moore and published in English.
 Ngugi Wa Thiong’o alludes to actual events during the early post-colonial period, such as the assassination of Pio Gama Pinto in 1965 and of Tom Mboya in 1969s. The Gikuyu élite drew on the traditions of Mau Mau to organise oath-taking ceremonies so as to mobilise ethnic support during 1969–70. And the lawyer had his real life counterpart in Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, who was assassinated in 1975.
Ngũgĩ uses the very words that constitute the title of Achebe's, Chinua famous novel A Man of the People (London, 1966), denouncing the betrayal of Nigeria's independence by corrupt politicians.Top of FormBottom of Form.
ThisThis Ngugi wa Thiong'o's A Grain of Wheat, appears early in chapter one of the novel. As readers begin the novel, they are made immediately aware that something is not right. The main character, Mugo, lies chained to a bed. He stares straight up as water droplets form above him. These water drops will drip continuously upon him. Many readers may be familiar with this image: water torture. This quote speaks to the horror associated with torture. Yet, the image presented does not seem particularly foreboding. The words chosen to describe the water droplet possess a positive and peaceful image. The water drop is described as both "clear" and "delicate." It is not until the droplet begins to fatten under its weight and become soiled by the roots and dirt as it hangs mercilessly above Mugo that the clear drop transforms into something different. Luckily for Mugo, this eminent torture has only been a dream.
‘As long as he did not know the truth, he could interpret the story in the only way that gave him hope.’
ThisThis quote speaks to the fluidity of reality. While some may try to argue that one reality exists and everyone experiences the same reality, this is far from the truth. Not knowing something, at times, actually may offer a person some solace. By not knowing, one is able to decipher the events as individualistic to himself or herself. In doing this, the optimistic person is able to mold what is happening into something which has the possibility of bringing hope. If one were to know the truth of the circumstances and could find no hope, he or she could be lost and give up. This quote speaks directly to the idea of the importance of the individual. It.
A well written fiction can be a great introduction to history and provoke understanding that is deeper than factual learning of the history. This book, written only a few years after the historical setting of the story by a young, only 28 year old writer then, is a remarkable example. The story of Kenyans, during the 4 days before the independence from British Empire, a very precarious time of the nation, with the thick dark cloud of violent future, typical of a birth of a new nation. The story goes back and forth between current time and the 1950's since Mau Mau, and the characters-mysterious and reclusive Mugo, love triangle of Mumbi, Karanja and Gikonyo, and political martyr Kihika--testify the multilayered views on the suffering, survival and fights of the Kenyans as well as daunting tasks of sorting out the history after liberation. There are quite clear motifs--Moses, the holy family, Joseph and Mary, crucifixion, Judas etc, symbolizing judgment, betrayals, forgiveness, confession, rebirth, hope and despair. It is entertaining as a page turning drama, full of suspense of looking for the traitor, but it is also a very complex and rich literature, not only with great plot but also with philosophical and political weight.
historical and philosophical weight.
For the reactions of the Kenyan Government that culminated in 1982 in the destruction of the Kamiriithu theatre, see Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa, Decolonising the Mind: the politics of language in African literature.
Ngũgĩ reports in Decolonizing the Mind, p. 83, that Caitaani Mũtharaba-inĩ was read aloud in families, among workers, on buses, in taxis, and in public bars. This essay employs the journey motif to re-read three novels by Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Devil on the Cross, Matigari and Wizard of the Crow. It is argued here that these three novels form Ngugi's era of Gikuyu fiction; they are chosen to represent his celebrated decision to freely.
Historical fiction set on events leading up to the liberation (Huhuru) of Kenya from British rule in 1963. The author creates different characters and situations that demonstrate the challenges of becoming independent. Among them violence, corruption, racism and sexism. What I found interesting about this book is how there are a few protagonists that present the plot of the story. This at times can get confusing and challenging for the reader trying to keep up with all the characters and stories. The author also moves back and forth in time making it difficult to follow the stories. Overall a very good novel that gives you an insight in a period of history not just in Kenya but throughout the African continent.
Class Analysis:-
A novel is a long narrative, normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. The genre has also been described as possessing "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years". This view sees the novel's origins in Classical Greece and Rome, medieval, early modern romance, and the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. Ian Watt, however, in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel first came into being in the early 18th century, Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era; the first part of Don Quixote was published in 1605. The romance is a closely related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents", whereas in the novel "the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society". However, many romances, including the historical romances of Scott, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, are also frequently called novels, and Scott describes romance as a "kindred term". Romance, as defined here, should not be confused with the genre fiction love romance or romance novel. Other European languages do not distinguish between romance and novel: "a novel is le roman, der Roman, il romanzo."
Conclusion:-
In this novel ‘A Grain of Wheat’ Ngugi Wa Thiong’o talk about Kenyan Freedom for Kenyan people. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is the best known creative writer from Kenya. He was born in colonial Kenya a year before the outbreak of the Second World War whose one aftermath was an intensification of anti-imperialist struggles all over the world. The 1920s through the 1950s witnessed the emergence of anti-colonial organizations in Kenya. The apex of the anti-colonial struggle in the country was the Mau Mau armed revolt in the 1950s.
When a state of emergency was declared in the colony in 1952 Ngugi was about fourteen years old. He was to witness the Mau Mau revolt during his adolescence. This period had a great impact on young Ngugi and helped to shape his attitude towards imperialism and the meaning of independence in his adult live. In his book entitled Secret Lives he says

Work cited:
1. Gugler, J. (1994). How Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Shifted from Class Analysis to a Neo-Colonialist Perspective. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 32(2), 329-339.

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