His Defiance: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the Struggle for an Independent African Literature / Olufunke Ogundimu In: Asymptote June 14, 2018

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was born 5 January, 1938 in Limuru, Kenya and is a perennial favourite for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Ngũgĩ is at the forefront of a war of resistance regarding the use of language that has spanned many decades. He advocates that African writers write in their mother tongues, because he understands how integral language is to a culture and its identity. Since African literature is mostly written in languages of the minority, the language of the colonizers, Ngũgĩ asserts that this choice stifles the imagination of Africans and their propensity to be creative.
Nearly fifty years ago, Ngũgĩ wrote his first novel, Weep Not, Child (1964), the first written in English by an Eastern African. Ngaahika Ndeenda (1977), translated as I Will Marry When I Want, was co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii. It is a play that depicts the injustices and excesses of post-colonial Kenya. It was acted by “non-intellectuals” in an open-air theater at the Kamirithu Educational and Cultural Center, Limuru. Ngũgĩ’s Gikuyu play sought to bring the theatre closer to the masses and encourage the audience to interact with the play. The play appealed to a wide audience and, because of the resultant reaction by people, the Kenyan government threw Ngũgĩ in prison for a year.

While in prison, Ngũgĩ abandoned English as a literary language and committed to writing only in Gikuyu. He wrote Caitani Mutharaba-ini (translated into English as 'Devil on the Cross') on toilet paper while in prison. It is a satire about Kenyan kleptocracy and a powerful critique of capitalism. Six passengers traveling in a matatu from Nairobi to Ilmorog (a fictional place) try to define the truth of their own reality. They are on their way to the feast of the devil to compete for the title of the greatest crook of all. The main character of Caitani Mutharaba-ini is a young woman named Wariinga who is exploited by her boss, a businessman, and jilted by her boyfriend. She later realizes that her struggles are deeply rooted in the problems of the larger society which relates to how Western capitalism influences her country.  She eventually becomes a mechanic and a spokesperson for workers. ... [mehr] https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2018/06/14/his-defiance-ngugi-wa-thiongo-and-the-struggle-for-an-independent-african-literature/