Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature [Paperback]

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0852555016 | ISBN-13: 978-0852555019

Ngugi describes this book as 'a summary of some of the issues in which I have been passionately involved for the last twenty years of my practice in fiction, theatre, criticism and in teaching of literature. North America: Heinemann; Kenya: EAEP

Editorial Reviews

Review

... many of the ideas are familiar from Ngugi's earlier critical books, and earlier lectures, elsewhere. But the material here has a new context and the ideas a new focus. This leading African writer presents the arguments for using African language andforms after successfully using an African language himself. - Anne Walmsley in THE GUARDIAN ... after 25 years of independence, there is beginning to emerge a generation of writers for whom colonialism is a matter of history and not of direct personal experience. In retrospect that literature characterised by Ngugi as Afro-European - the literature written by Africans in European languages - will come to be seen as part and parcel of the uneasy period between colonialism and full independence, a period equally reflected in the continent's political instability as it attempts to find its feet. Ngugi's importance - and that of this book - lies in the courage with which he has confronted this most urgent of issues. - Adewale Maja-Pearce in THE NEW STATESMAN

Product Details

• Paperback: 114 pages
• Publisher: James Currey Ltd / Heinemann (January 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0852555016
• ISBN-13: 978-0852555019
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #797,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > African > East African

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars insightuful, thought-provoking, life changing, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (Paperback)

I WAS IN THE UNIVERISTY WHEN I FIRST HAD TO READ NGUGI'S DECOLONSING THE MIND. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT THIS WAS THE BOOK THAT DEFINED THE DIRECTION OF MY COLLEGE CAREER. THROUGH PERSONAL EXAMPLES AND GENERAL OVERVIEWS OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE NEO-COLONIAL AFRICAN STATE, NGUGI HAS WRITTEN A MUST-READ FOR ANY AFRICAN WHO HAS COME INTO CONTACT WITH WESTERN CULTURE, MAY THAT BE THROUGH LANGUAGE, SCHOOLING, OR ONE'S PLACE OF RESIDENCE. UNTIL I READ THIS BOOK, I DID NOT REALIZE HOW PROFOUNDLY THE RACIST NOTIONS OF THE WESTERN WORLD AFFECTED MY THOUGHT PROCESS AND THE WAY THAT I VIEWED THE WORLD AROUND ME; ESPECIALLY THE WAY THAT I VIEWED MYSELF. THIS BOOK WILL BECOME INDISPENSABLE TO ANY PERSON THROUGHOUT THE AFRICAN DIASPORA WHO HAS EXPERIENCED ANY OF THE FEELINGS OF DISPLACEMENT, SELF-HATRED, AND ANXIETY THAT NGUGI SO ELOQUENTLY DESCRIBES. A MUST HAVE.