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A Comparative Study of Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's Weep Not, Child And University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NGUGI WA THIONG’O’S WEEP NOT, CHILD AND DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR BY PAUL BINGAH (10129075) THIS THESIS/DESSERTATION IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL ENGLISH DEGREE JULY, 2018 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is the product of my original research, and it has not been published or presented, in whole or part, for the award of a degree anywhere in the world, and that all references to other works have been duly acknowledged. …………………….. Paul Bingah ( 10129075) Date………………….. ………………………….. ……………………………… Date…………………….. Date…………………………. Prof. Albert A. Sackey Dr Mawuli Adjei (Principal Supervisor) (Co-Supervisor) i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my Mother, Justine Condobrey, my wife, Felicia Sika and my children, Laura Senam Bingah, and Nadia Selorm Bingah. Above all I dedicate it to Almighty God. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOLEDGEMENT I am grateful to my supervisors, Prof. Albert A. Sackey and Dr. Mawuli Adjei for the guidance they have given me in writing this thesis. I am as well grateful to them for their incisive criticisms and comments which have helped me to shape this work as it is now. My gratitude also goes to Prof. Kofi Anyidoho for introducing me to the works of Ngugi wa Thiong’o and particularly whipping my interest in Dreams in a Time of War. I am also thankful to Auntie Herty of the Department of English, University of Ghana, Stanley Akabua of Bank of Ghana, Hohoe Branch, and everyone who has been part of this success. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENT CONTENT PAGE DECLARATION…………………………………………………………………………... i DEDICATION………………………………………………………………….................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………. iv ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………... …… vii INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study……………………………………………………………….. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………………. 4 1.3 Objective of the Study………………………………………………………………..... 4 1.4 Literature Review……………………………………………………………………….5 1.5 Research Questions…………………………………………………………………….. 18 1.6 Methodology……………………………………………………………………............ 18 1.7 Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………………….19 1.8 Significance of the Study………………………………………………………............. 25 1.9 Justification of the Study…………………………………………………………….... 26 1.10 Delimitation………………………………………………………………………… 26 1.11 Thesis Structure…………………………………………………………………… 27 iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE: REPRESENTATION OF SOCIETY, HOME AND THE SELF IN WEEP NOT, CHILD AND DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR 2.1 Representation of Society in Weep Not, Child and Dreams in a Time of War………… 28 2.2 Representation of Home in Weep Not, Child and Dreams in a Time of War….. ……... 32 2.3 Representation of Self in Weep Not, Child and Dreams in a Time of War………......... 41 CHAPTER TWO: THE GENERIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEEP NOT, CHILD AND DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR 3.1 Linear Time Order in Weep Not, Child………………………………………………… 49 3.2 Linear Time Order in Dreams in a Time of War…………………………………......... 52 3.3 Anachronous Time in Weep Not, Child and Dreams in a Time of War………………... 54 3.3.I Exterior Analepsis……………………………………………………......................... 54 3.3.II Interior Analepsis………………………………………………………………......... 55 3.4 Time Duration in Weep Not, Child and Dreams in a Time of War……………….......... 58 3.5 Time Frequency in Weep Not, Child and Dreams in a Time of War…………………... 67 3.6 NARRATOR AND POINT OF VIEW…………………………………........ 72 CHAPTER THREE: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL DIMENSION OF DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR 4.1 Ngugi’s Autobiographical Memory in Dreams in a Time of War……………………... 76 4.1.I Ngugi’s Pleasant Memories…………………………………………………............... 77 4.1.II Ngugi’s Unpleasant Memories…………………………………………………......... 82 4.2 Ngugi’s Autobiographical Selection in Dreams in a Time of War…………………….. 87 4.3 The Ideal Self Versus the Real Self in Dreams in a Time of War……………………... 87 v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.4 The Fictive/Factual Interrelationship in Dreams in a Time of War………………......... 92 4.5 The Narrative Voice in Dreams in a Time of War…………………………………….. 94 CHAPTER FOUR: THEME, CHARACTERISATION, AND DICTION IN WEEP NOT, CHILD AND DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR 5.1 The Theme of Colonialism…………………………………………………………….. 96 5.2 The Theme of Land Ownership, Appropriation, and Alienation………………………. 102 5.3 The Theme of the Mau Mau, Patriotism, and Rebellion………………………..............108 5.4 Images of Women……………………………………………………………………… 113 FINDINGS…………………………………………………………………...118 CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………. 121 RECOMMENDATION…………………………………………………......122 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………….............. 123 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT The interrelationship between fiction and autobiography provides the grounds for a comparative study of two literary works of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep not, Child and his Dreams in a Time of War. The two texts are therefore placed side by side to draw the intertextual links between them. Ngugi’s works, both fiction and non-fiction, often articulate issues concerning his personal experiences as well as the socio-political concerns of the Kenyan people. Undertaking the comparative study of these two narratives is therefore aimed at unearthing various similar issues addressed in them. It is also aimed at critically examining the generic differences between fiction (Weep Not, Child) and autobiography (Dreams in a Time of War), to determine the extent to which each genre employs artistry. It is further aimed at examining the autobiographical dimensions of Dreams in a Time of War. The conclusions drawn from this study are arrived at through the use of qualitative study based on content analysis. The study thus puts the two texts side by side and looks at issues such as, Ngugi’s representation of society, home, and the self; land ownership, land appropriation and land alienation; and then the Mau Mau revolutionary resistance and the state of emergency in both narratives. It further looks at the narrative techniques in terms of Time, Narrator and Point of View. The study confirms the fact that Ngugi uses the same data/material in different genres - one a fiction and the other an autobiography - to dwell on the same issues hence making the two genres intertextually linked. The study further confirms that although Dreams in a Time of War is also a literary work, Weep Not, Child, being a work of fiction has more flexible narrative freedom than Dreams in a Time of War which is an autobiography and employs more memory. The study is significant because of the years between the two texts, since Dreams in a Time of War was written forty-six years after Weep not Child was written, yet the same data is used in the two different genres to achieve the same purpose. vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study According to Singh (2015), Saint Augustine’s Confessions (c.AD 398-400) is often considered as the trendsetter to writing Western autobiography. The major feature of St Augustine’s Confessions is to construct a history of selfhood, a process which helps the author to discern who he is. Confessions is therefore written to represent a religious experience as an example for others; Singh writes: Autobiography is traditionally a Western genre drawing on the Catholic ritual of confessions. The classical autobiographical genre based on introspection of the self, confession of sins, expression of remorse and guilt is indeed very theological in letter and spirit (Singh). In their introduction to “Writing the Self: Essays on Autobiography and Autofiction” Shands et al (2015) remind us that the word ‘autobiography’ comes from “Greek αὐτός-autos self, βίος-bios life, and γράφειν- graphein write.” Based on the definition above, autobiography denotes self-writing – that is, the account of an individual’s life written by him or herself. Autobiography therefore means writing about one’s self (Shands et al 7). Eakin (2004) defines autobiography as “a discourse of identity delivered bit by bit in stories we tell about ourselves day in day out” and that “autobiography structures our living” (Eakin). From the above it is obvious that ‘self’ stands prominent in what autobiography is. It is a well-known fact that African self-writing existed long before the three main literary genres began on the continent; but not many people write autobiographies. Ngwenya (2001) in his “The Historical Dimensions of South African Autobiography” observes that South African autobiographies like Kingsley Fairbridge’s The Autobiography of Kingley Fairbridge (1927) and Francis Carey’s Slater’s Settler’s Heritage (1954) date as far back as “the colonial era” (Ngwenya). In Ghana, Caseley Hayford’s autobiographical fiction Ethiopia Unbound 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (1911) and Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (1957) are examples of autobiographical writings of Africans. It is thus clear that Africans carry out self-writing long before writing the novel, drama and poetry took centre stage on the continent from the late 1950s. Self-writing in Africa can thus be said to be as old as, if not older than, the three major genres. However, scholars have rather made significant contributions on the development of the novel, drama and poetry. Not much attention is paid to self-writing, let alone scholarly contribution to it, until the early 1980s when writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achibe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o began writing their life stories. Wole Soyinka’s Ake: The Years of Childhood, Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Dreams in a Time of War and In the House of the Interpreter are examples of some of the autobiographies that have been written by well-known and well-grounded authors in the African Literary world.
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