Student Question
What is the significance of Kamirithu Center in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Decolonizing the Mind?
Quick answer:
The Kamirithu Community Educational and Cultural Center is significant because it reconnects Kenyan drama to its pre-colonial tradition of spontaneity and openness. This is in keeping with Ngugi's larger mission of moving African literature away from the language and culture of the colonizers and back to its traditional roots.
The Kamirithu Community Educational and Cultural Center is significant in Ngugi wa Thiong’o's essay “The Language of African Theatre” because it returns Kenya to a time when drama was not restricted to a specific place. Before British colonialism, Ngugi says that Kenyan drama was not “performed in a special building set aside for the purpose.” For Kenyans, drama was a crucial part of their everyday life. It could happen at any time and anywhere.
Such spontaneous public gatherings posed a threat to British hegemony. To control the population, the British made it a law that any gathering of five or more people required a license. Ngugi writes that British further eroded Kenya's natural affinity for drama by eradicating the “empty space” needed for Kenyans to practice drama with an extemporaneous ethos. To maintain what they believed to be order, the British made sure that drama would only manifest in government-approved places.
The Kamirithu Community Educational and Cultural Center is not a government-sanctioned space: it's a place run by peasants, a schoolteacher, workers, and a businessman. More so, the space reconnects Kenya to its heritage of empty space since it’s a roomy, open-air theatre that permits spontaneous action. According to Ngugi, there was a performance in which actors spontaneously decided to climb some nearby trees and do their singing in the trees.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.