The Martyr | Essays and Criticism

  • Themes of Family and Betrayal

    In the following essay, Brent discusses the themes of family and betrayal in Ngugi's story.

  • Nagugi wa Thiong'o and the Politics of Language

    In the following essay on Ngugi wa Thiong 'o, Theodore Pelton discusses the Kenyan author's controversial use of his regional language, Gikuyu, as part of his active resistance against Western imperialism (an action which lead to his imprisonment in 1978). Pelton cautions that in order to properly approach Thiong'o's written work, the reader must also approach not only the man as activist and anti-imperialist, but also the mythic presence Thiong 'o 's actions have created.

  • Language in African Literature: an Aside to Ngugi

    In the following essay on Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Joseph Mbele discusses how the Kenyan author's controversial use of his regional language, Gikuyu, raises questions and problems around the relationship of language to culture, questioning whether the author's use of his regional language functions as he intends to ''decolonize'' the African mind.