Postcolonialism in the Wake of the Nairobi Revolution: Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the Idea of African Literature

211 Pages·2010·2.77 MB·English

by  Apollo Obonyo Amoko (auth.)

Postcolonialism in the Wake of
the Nairobi Revolution
Postcolonialism in the Wake of
the Nairobi Revolution
Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the Idea of
African Literature
Apollo Obonyo Amoko
palgrave
macmillan
POSTCOLONIALISMINTHEWAKEOFTHENAIROBIREVOLUTION
Copyright©ApolloObonyoAmoko,2010.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-10546-1
Allrightsreserved.
Firstpublishedin2010byPALGRAVEMACMILLAN®inthe
UnitedStates-adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC,175FifthAvenue,
NewYork,NY10010.
WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestofthe
World,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillan
PublishersLimited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,
ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove
companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited
States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries.
ISBN978-1-349-28995-0 ISBN978-0-230-11398-5(eBook)
DOI10.1057/9780230113985
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Amoko,ApolloObonyo.
PostcolonialisminthewakeoftheNairobirevolution:
NgugiwaThiong’oandtheideaofAfricanliterature/byApollo
ObonyoAmoko.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
1. NgugiwaThiong’o,1938—Criticismandinterpretation.
2. NgugiwaThiong’o,1938—Influence. 3. Africanliterature—
20thcentury—Historyandcriticism. 4. Nationalismand
literature—Africa. 5. Postcolonialism—Africa. 6. Postcolonialism
inliterature. 7. Africa—Inliterature. 8. Kenya—Inliterature.
I. Title.
PR9381.9.N45Z492010
823(cid:2).914—dc22 2010008771
DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices
Firstedition:October2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Tomyparents,StephenObonyoAmokoandMaryAwinoObonyo.
InmemoriamLemuelA.Johnson.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:PitfallsofPostcolonialIntellectual
Consciousness:AfricanLiteratureintheWakeofthe
NairobiRevolution 1
1 EarlyFictionsofSchoolCulture:TheRiverBetweenand
WeepNot,Child 29
2 LaterFictionsofSchoolCulture:PetalsofBlood and
DevilontheCross 67
3 TheTheatersofSchoolCulture:ImagingtheNationin
Ngugi’sPlays 109
Conclusion:BetweenIronyandTragedy:CheikhHamidou
Kane’sAmbiguousAdventureinAmbiguousAdventure 159
Notes 179
Bibliography 191
Index 197
Acknowledgments
To my mentor, Simon Gikandi. To my other mentor, F. Abiola Irele.
To Nancy Rose Hunt, David William Cohen, Ifeoma Nwankwo, and
Mamadou Diouf. To Carroll Smith Rosenberg. To Leah Rosenberg.
Forextraordinarysupportinthefaceofacontinuingmedicalcrisis,to
the Department of English at the University of Florida, in particular
my colleagues John Leavey, Pamela Gilbert, Phil Wegner, and Malini
Schueller.TocolleaguesattheCenterforAfricanStudies,inparticular
Leo Villalón, Todd Leedy, and Luise White. To Kennie Lyman and
KirenMichaelValjee.
To Ngugi wa Thiong’o. To Gichingiri Ndigirigi, Joseph Mbele,
James Ogude, and Carol and Marvin Sicherman. To the follow-
ing scholars and artists in Kenya: Mohammed Abdulaziz, Kavetsa
Adagala, Peter Amuka, Francis Imbuga, Arthur Luvai, Stephen
Mwenesi,GodfreyMuriuki,ObyObyerodhiambo,WaveneyOlembo,
and Wasambo Were. To my sisters, Apelles A. Obonyo and Esther
A. Obonyo. To Stephen Slemon and Lily Cho. To the following
scholars and artists in Uganda: Austin Bukenya, Okot Benge, Susan
Kiguli, Abasi Kiyimba, Katebalirwe Amooti wa Irumba, Timothy
Wangusa, and Robert Serumaga. To Elias Jengo, Adam Korogoto,
andAmandinaLihambaoftheUniversityofDaresSalaam.
Finally, a personal tribute to Lemuel A. Johnson, a committee
member who passed away on March 12, 2002, weeks prior to the
completionofmydoctoralstudiesattheUniversityofMichigan.Lem
read and commented on virtually every major paper that I wrote
during my tenure at Michigan. He attended every presentation and
performance I gave no matter how minor. I benefited immeasurably
from his generosity of spirit, his encyclopedic mind, his passion for
debate,andhiscapacityforrigorouscritique.Evenashewasbattling
terminal illness, he found the time to read and comment extensively
on nearly 300 pages of a draft dissertation. While I cannot claim to
have been equal to all the questions, criticisms, and suggestions he
raised, I know that my work was much better for his extraordinary
sacrifice.
x Acknowledgments
Professor Johnson’s commitment to my work went well beyond
the call of duty. He once insisted on a marathon three-hour disserta-
tion conference quite literally in between chemotherapy treatments.
During that meeting, he went through my arguments literally page
by page. To complete this exhausting task, he kept waiting a num-
ber of valued friends who had come to visit with him in his illness.
I learned later that he had not seen these friends, in some instances,
for months. At the conclusion of a meeting that had visibly drained
him,withagenerosityandself-sacrificethatwasuniquelyhis,Profes-
sorJohnsoninsistedongivingmearidehome.Convincedthatitwas
not appropriate for me to walk home after visiting him in the dead
of winter, he rather impatiently brushed aside my objections, put on
hiscoat,andgotintohiscar.Duringtheride,hewentoutofhisway
to praise my project and to encourage me. I was somewhat embar-
rassed at his high praise. I think he took a certain pleasure in seeing
me squirm. He also took time to inquire about my welfare. He was
morethanmydemandingprofessor;hewasmymentorandfriend.In
theweeksfollowingourconference,hesentmeseverale-mailscalling
tomyattentionarangeofnewissues—andnewreferences.Atpoints,
Iwaschastenedbytherealizationthatheseemedtobethinkingmore
consistently and more cogently about my project than I was. On at
least one occasion, he took it upon himself, despite illness, to go to
the library and check out a book he thought would help me develop
a particular argument. Having bookmarked the relevant sections, he
left it in my mailbox with the suggestion that I return to the library
andborrowitinmyownname.Amazedbyhisdevotion,Iwashappy
tocomply.
MylastmeetingwithProfessorJohnsontookplaceinthelastweek
of January 2002 when I gave a brown bag lecture at the University
of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities. It was a relatively minor
eventatwhichIreadanexcerptfromoneofthechaptersthathehad
already exhaustively commented on. A few days prior to the event,
Professor Johnson wrote with more comments and more references
for my consideration. As a postscript to his e-mail, he indicated that
even though he was not feeling well, he would make every effort to
attend my talk. Deeply moved, I nevertheless felt obliged to inform
himthatIwouldnotbesayinganythingnew,asIwasyettoformulate
acoherentresponsetothemanyandvariedquestionsthatheandthe
rest of my committee had raised. Without responding to my e-mail,
he showed up for the talk anyway and sat, as was customary, incon-
spicuously at the back of the room. He listened attentively to a talk
that must not only have sounded very familiar to him but also went
Acknowledgments xi
ontoolong.Hewaitedpatientlyuntileveryoneelseintheroomhad
askedquestionsandthen,asonlyhecould,askedaprobingquestion.
Imayhavebeensayingnothingnew,buthehadnewinsightsandcri-
tiquesbywayofresponse.Attheconclusionofthetalk,thoughvisibly
drained, he stayed on and waited until everyone else who desired to
speakwithmehadhadtheirturn.Hewantedtheopportunitytoper-
sonally congratulate and encourage me. I learned later that he had
gone back home wiped out but delighted. Even without knowing
then that this would be our last interaction, even without knowing
thenthatthiswouldbethelastacademiceventthathewouldbeable
to attend, I too was delighted he had come. I was sad that Professor
Johnson’s chair was empty during my dissertation defense. But I am
deeplygratefulthat,duetohisextraordinarysacrifice,hisimprintwill
foreverremaineverywherepresentinmyproject.ThelessonofProfes-
sorJohnson’slifestandsbeforemeasapowerfultestamentnotsimply
tobrillianceandaccomplishment,butalsotointegrity,decency,char-
acter,devotion,charity,courage,andgrace.Iamverygratefultohave
knownhim.
I n t r o d u c t i o n
Pitfalls of Postcolonial
Intellectual Consciousness:
African Literature in the Wake
of the Nairobi Revolution
T
his book examines the emergence of modern African literature as
both a creative practice and an academic discipline. Building on the
work of John Guillory and Pierre Bourdieu, I trace the connection
betweentheconceptof“representation”asthefoundationaltropein
contemporary aesthetic inquiry and the concept of “representation”
in contemporary democratic thought. With specific reference to
African literature, I examine the relationship popularly imagined
betweeninstitutionsofliteratureandtheprocessesofnationalistlegit-
imation, that is, between colonial and postcolonial school cultures,
on the one hand, and national cultures, on the other. I analyze
the emergence of African literature and its institutionalization within
nationalistAfricanacademies.Myparticularfocus—mycasestudyasit
were—istheoeuvreofNgugiwaThiong’o,anauthorwhowasinstru-
mental in shaping both the African literary tradition and its place in
the university. As a novelist, dramatist, theorist, and academic whose
works span the early 1960s to the present, Ngugi has been a cen-
tral figure in the establishment of modern African literature. Both
admirers and critics of his work regard him as a preeminent post-
colonial literary nationalist. Revising this critical consensus, I suggest
that,itsexplicitnationalistintentionsandanticolonialstancenotwith-
standing,Ngugi’sworkbelongstoacolonialandexclusionaryschool
culture.