Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Born in Kenya, baptized James Ngũgĩ. Kenya was part of the East Africa Protectorate since 1895, becoming the Kenya Colony in 1920, and later becoming an independent nation in 1964.
His brother was involved in the Mau Mau uprising (revolt against the British), his mother was tortured at a home post (military post formed because of the uprisings).
Studied in Uganda, England, Kenya, and Sweden; taught as a professor in Kenya, NYU, Yale, and California.
Invented a novel form of theatre to liberate the theatrical process from the audience worshipping the performers; a more interactive and inclusive form of theatre that included audience input into his work. His plays were shut down and he was jailed for his controversial works. He and his family were only allowed to return from exile once the Vice President who had exiled them had passed away some 2 decades later.
Renounced his Christian name and religion in 1967 when he embraced Marxism. He also started writing in his native languages of Swahili and Gikuyu. He wrote his first Gikuyu novel on prison toilet paper. He was later an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience. He was jailed for his controversial political statements and works multiple times throughout his life.
Questions:
How can language be used as a means of cultural/ spiritual subjugation?
How did we become so feeble towards the claims of one language (perhaps our own or languages native to other minorities) and so aggressive in our support and admiration of colonial languages?
COMPARISON TO ANZALDUA: What are the similarities and differences in Anzaldua and Thiong’o’s experiences given the fact that they are both based around language and colonialism?
Reflection:
I used to value my English abilities very highly, prizing my writing as one of my best assets. And while I might still be able to take pride in my written works, I now feel like I am at a loss because I do not know how to write or read my native language, Bangla. I can speak a more rural dialect of it which my grandmother taught me but for the most part, I cannot communicate it in its proper form. Because of this recent development, I found myself relating to Thiong’o and his journey from writing in the language of colonizers to writing strictly in his own tongue and allowing the hidden meanings and emotions of those words to have power. I hope to learn how to read and write in Bangla one day soon.
Coming up with the questions was more of an introspective process than one of thinking how to draw answers from the class because I know the answers to the questions, I just needed to be at a certain time and place in my life to finally be able to ask them out loud. I know why we value colonial languages over our native ones and exactly how stripping someone of their native language alienates them from their families, their histories, and themselves. But I haven’t had any teacher really delve into writers that also deal with this issue and writers that have figured out how to return to their roots and have pride in it so I am thankful that this was the presentation I got assigned.
