Intertextuality in Ngũgĩwa Thiong‘O’S Selected Postcolonial Novels

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2022-07

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Ngũgĩwa Thiong'o, the prominent African writer and critic, dismantled imperialdiscourse, criticized post-independence corrupt local leaders, and exposed the subtle intent of neocolonialism in his essays and literary texts. This study investigates the intertexts (allusions, references, quotations, and citations) in three novels by Ngũgĩ and determines the intertexts‘ potential for re-enforcing or criticizing particular perspectives. Even though the author has produced several intertext-rich texts, which expose readers to sociopolitical and economic dynamics of Africa, researchers have not yet explored them comparatively and comprehensively-emphasizing the contexts in each novel. The study examines three novels from different periods in the study of African literature: Weep Not, Child (1964), Petals of Blood (1977), and Wizard of the Crow (2006). The researcher selected the novels purposively anticipating the influence of local and global contexts within three literary periods (anticolonial, post-independence, and contemporary neocolonial periods). The local contexts-anti-colonial movement and post-independence disillusionment periods with global contexts-the cold war, neocolonialism, and globalization have influenced the selection of intertexts by the author. These periods exhibit different trends the author might want to refute or reaffirm. As a framework, the study relies on the theory of intertextuality-by Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva. Then, through the textual analysis method, the study examines the impact of the intertexts in criticizing or reinforcing sociopolitical and economic viewpoints in the novels. The intertexts mainly deal with oppressive systems, experiences of resistance, historical incidents, monologic discourse, human stories, philosophies, and lifestyles from different times and places-to enlighten oppressed people of Africa. Generally, the finding reveals that the author aesthetically employed the intertexts to challenge the imperialist portrayal of the colonized people, resist the post-independence corrupt leadership that disillusioned the people interminably, and combat the threat of contemporary neocolonialism. The study implies that African authors should constantly search for human stories-aware the elites and the masses-destabilize the ongoing oppressive and exploitive world order built on invented narratives.

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prominent African writer

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