sem 4 african
TRANSCRIPT
TOPIC:CRITICAL NOTE ON THE ANTI-COLONIAL STRUGGLE AS DEPICTED IN ‘ A GRAIN OF WHEAT’
NAME : JAYSHREE SOLANKIROLL NO: 10 ENROLLMENT NO: PG14101028PAPER NAME:THE AFRICAN LITERATUREPAPER NO:14SUBMITTED TO:SMT S.B.GARDI BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITYE-MAIL ID: [email protected]
‘A Grain of wheat ’ by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
James Thiong’o is a Kenyan novelist, poet and playwright who is distinguished professor of
English and comparative literature at the California.
‘A Grain of wheat’
National epic
Anti –colonial struggle
Index of Anti-colonial Struggle
1 Religion concept
2 Mugo central character
3 Fanon’s concept
4Mau Mau Movement
Religion is an important element in the novel. The White man brought Christianity to Kenya.Many Blacks take up Christian religion. However, the existing religions do not die. At the Uhuru celebration, the town will sacrifice rams in a traditional sacrificial rite.
At the same time ,Kihika is a devoutly religious man, comparing the struggle of the Black man in Kenya with the struggle of the jews to be freedom the Pharaoh.
James takes the reader back to the days preceding Kenya’s Independence. Mugo , a farmer and hero in the eyes of the villagers, is asked to deliver a speech during the Uhuru celebrations, to be held in memory of his friend
Kihika. The oppressive power of colonialism to erase, alter, divide and destroy an entire race of people.
Fanon’s anti-colonial nationalism
Fanon defined anti-colonial nationalism. He might recap following points in the novel. He asserts the rights of colonized peoples to make their self-definitions , rather than he defined by the colonizers.
He offers the means to identify alternative histories, cultural traditions and knowledge which conflict with the representations of colonial discourses.
Mau Mau Movement
This is the movement plays vital role in the main story of this novel. The Mau Mau uprising, so known as the Mau Mau Revolt, Mau Mau Rebellion Kenya Emergency, was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960.
Writer’s point of view :
“Nearly everybody was a member of the party, but nobody could say with any accuracy when the Party was born: to most people, especially those in the younger generation, the party had always been there, a rallying center for
action.”
To conclude,
People tries to struggle for their own Uhuru and it is the main and central idea.
Its influence stretched from one horizon touching the sea to the great Lake.
Work cited:
www.bookrags.com/studyguide-a -grain-of wheat/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Grain_of_wheat
www.supersummary.com/a-grain-of-wheat/summary
