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

217 Pages·2010·1.08 MB·English

by  Apollo Obonyo Amoko

Postcolonialism in the Wake of
the Nairobi Revolution
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10.1057/9780230113985 - Postcolonialism in the Wake of the Nairobi Revolution, Apollo Obonyo Amoko
Postcolonialism in the Wake of
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Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the Idea of 1-
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African Literature ct -
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Apollo Obonyo Amoko e -
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10.1057/9780230113985 - Postcolonialism in the Wake of the Nairobi Revolution, Apollo Obonyo Amoko
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POSTCOLONIALISMINTHEWAKEOFTHENAIROBIREVOLUTION
Copyright©ApolloObonyoAmoko,2010.
Allrightsreserved.
Firstpublishedin2010byPALGRAVEMACMILLAN®inthe
UnitedStates-adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC,175FifthAvenue, 5
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NewYork,NY10010. 3-
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WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestofthe 2
World,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillan ct -
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PublishersLimited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998, nn
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ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS. C
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PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove al
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companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. e -
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Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited Tro
States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. et i
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ISBN:978–0–230–10546–1 bli
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData sitet
er
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Amoko,ApolloObonyo. Uni
PostcolonialisminthewakeoftheNairobirevolution: d to
NgugiwaThiong’oandtheideaofAfricanliterature/byApollo se
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ObonyoAmoko. e
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p. cm. m - li
Includesbibliographicalreferences. o
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ISBN978–0–230–10546–1(alk.paper) ct.
e
1. NgugiwaThiong’o,1938—Criticismandinterpretation. nn
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2. NgugiwaThiong’o,1938—Influence. 3. Africanliterature— ec
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20thcentury—Historyandcriticism. 4. Nationalismand gra
literature—Africa. 5. Postcolonialism—Africa. 6. Postcolonialism al
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inliterature. 7. Africa—Inliterature. 8. Kenya—Inliterature. w.
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I. Title. m w
PR9381.9.N45Z492010 o
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Firstedition:October2010 pyri
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
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Tomyparents,StephenObonyoAmokoandMaryAwinoObonyo.
InmemoriamLemuelA.Johnson.
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10.1057/9780230113985 - Postcolonialism in the Wake of the Nairobi Revolution, Apollo Obonyo Amoko
Contents
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Acknowledgments ix ne
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Introduction:PitfallsofPostcolonialIntellectual ve
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Consciousness:AfricanLiteratureintheWakeofthe algr
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NairobiRevolution 1 e -
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1 EarlyFictionsofSchoolCulture:TheRiverBetweenand o
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WeepNot,Child 29 et i
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2 LaterFictionsofSchoolCulture:PetalsofBlood and bli
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DevilontheCross 67 ets
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3 TheTheatersofSchoolCulture:ImagingtheNationin ver
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Ngugi’sPlays 109 o U
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Conclusion:BetweenIronyandTragedy:CheikhHamidou ns
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Kane’sAmbiguousAdventureinAmbiguousAdventure 159 m - li
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Notes 179 ct.c
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Bibliography 191 co
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Index 197 algr
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10.1057/9780230113985 - Postcolonialism in the Wake of the Nairobi Revolution, Apollo Obonyo Amoko
Acknowledgments
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To my mentor, Simon Gikandi. To my other mentor, F. Abiola Irele. n
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To Nancy Rose Hunt, David William Cohen, Ifeoma Nwankwo, and e
v
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Mamadou Diouf. To Carroll Smith Rosenberg. To Leah Rosenberg. gr
al
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Forextraordinarysupportinthefaceofacontinuingmedicalcrisis,to e -
the Department of English at the University of Florida, in particular so
m
my colleagues John Leavey, Pamela Gilbert, Phil Wegner, and Malini Tro
Schueller.TocolleaguesattheCenterforAfricanStudies,inparticular et i
k
e
Leo Villalón, Todd Leedy, and Luise White. To Kennie Lyman and ot
bli
KirenMichaelValjee. bi
s
To Ngugi wa Thiong’o. To Gichingiri Ndigirigi, Joseph Mbele, sitet
James Ogude, and Carol and Marvin Sicherman. To the follow- ver
ni
ing scholars and artists in Kenya: Mohammed Abdulaziz, Kavetsa U
o
Adagala, Peter Amuka, Francis Imbuga, Arthur Luvai, Stephen d t
e
s
Mwenesi,GodfreyMuriuki,ObyObyerodhiambo,WaveneyOlembo, n
e
c
and Wasambo Were. To my sisters, Apelles A. Obonyo and Esther m - li
A. Obonyo. To Stephen Slemon and Lily Cho. To the following o
c
scholars and artists in Uganda: Austin Bukenya, Okot Benge, Susan ect.
n
n
Kiguli, Abasi Kiyimba, Katebalirwe Amooti wa Irumba, Timothy o
c
e
Wangusa, and Robert Serumaga. To Elias Jengo, Adam Korogoto, av
gr
andAmandinaLihambaoftheUniversityofDaresSalaam. al
p
Finally, a personal tribute to Lemuel A. Johnson, a committee ww.
w
member who passed away on March 12, 2002, weeks prior to the m
o
completionofmydoctoralstudiesattheUniversityofMichigan.Lem al fr
read and commented on virtually every major paper that I wrote eri
at
during my tenure at Michigan. He attended every presentation and m
ht
performance I gave no matter how minor. I benefited immeasurably yrig
from his generosity of spirit, his encyclopedic mind, his passion for op
C
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.
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