35 pages • 1 hour read
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'oDecolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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According to Ngũgĩ, what was the role of schools and universities in the colonial and neo-colonial context? Does Ngũgĩ think they were beneficial or harmful to the Indigenous African population?
How does Ngũgĩ view the relationship between language, lived experience, and a people’s history?
Why does Ngũgĩ believe that drama and theatre are inherent in pre-colonial African societies? And how does Ngũgĩ seek to reconnect African peoples back to this history?
Why was Ngũgĩ arrested and what did his arrest illuminate regarding the politics of being a writer, theatre director, and professor of literature?
Does Ngũgĩ believe that the novel is an artistic form that belongs solely to Europe? Why or why not?
How does Ngũgĩ view the relationship between education and theatre? What examples does he give to support his view?
With respect to what Ngũgĩ calls “revolutionary theatre” (43) what is the relationship between the audience and the performers?
What are the two “opposing […] forces” (54) that frame how Ngũgĩ analyzes African theatre and literature and why does he think they are significant?
What is the relationship between what Ngũgĩ calls the “base” and the story he recounts about the seven blind men who go to see an elephant?
What is the “cultural bomb” (3) and how does it affect the entirety of the lives of colonized peoples?
Related Titles
By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
