Penpoints, Gunpoints, and Dreams explores the relationship between art and political power in society, taking as its starting point the experience of writers in contemporary Africa, where they are often seen as the enemy of the postcolonial state. This study raises the wider issues of the relationship between the state of art and the art of the state, particularly in their struggle for the control of performance space in territorial, temporal, social, and even psychic contexts. Kenyan writer, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, calls for the alliance of art and people power, freedom and dignity against the encroachments of modern states. Art, he argues, needs to be active, engaged, insistent on being what it has always been, the embodiment of dreams for a truly human world.
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About the Author
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, an acclaimed novelist, playwright, and critic, is Professor of Comparative Literature and Performance Studies at New York University.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
intelligent, philosophical, pertinent,
By A Customer
This review is from: Penpoints, Gunpoints, and Dreams: Towards a Critical Theory of the Arts and the State in Africa (Clarendon Lectures in English Literature) (Hardcover)
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's book is an incredible achievement. It is divided into four lectures and each one contains a lot of information as well as well formed, well supported philosophies. It is not detached in its philosophy, however, but right down to earth. He makes sure to practically apply his ideas to the modern African continent. His philiosophies are strong, moving, and somehow easy to understand in all their complexity. I picked the book up and was on page 60 before I knew what had happened. I recommend this book with all my heart to anyone who has a passion for any form of art or for the humanity so often suppressed by the state, for anyone interested in language, literature, political art, or modern applications of ancient Greek philosophy. This is an incredible book.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
IN history the appearance of art in human life precedes the emergence of the state. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
europhone glory, oral power, beautyful ones, prison narratives, territorial space, literary grace, performance space Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mau Mau, Kwame Nkrumah, Leo Africanus, South Africa, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, East Africa, Philosophies of Beauty, Hama Tuma, New York, Norfolk Hotel, Seth Adagala, The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor, Drama Group, Edward Said, Harry Thuku, Jomo Kenyatta, Pio Zirimu, Decolonizing the Mind, Mohammed ben Abdalla, Paul Robeson, Peter Brook, Storms of the Heart, African Dawn, Ayi Kwei Armah, Gabriel Garcia Márquez New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
IN history the appearance of art in human life precedes the emergence of the state. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
europhone glory, oral power, beautyful ones, prison narratives, territorial space, literary grace, performance space Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mau Mau, Kwame Nkrumah, Leo Africanus, South Africa, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, East Africa, Philosophies of Beauty, Hama Tuma, New York, Norfolk Hotel, Seth Adagala, The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor, Drama Group, Edward Said, Harry Thuku, Jomo Kenyatta, Pio Zirimu, Decolonizing the Mind, Mohammed ben Abdalla, Paul Robeson, Peter Brook, Storms of the Heart, African Dawn, Ayi Kwei Armah, Gabriel Garcia Márquez New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 37
books:
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- The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and Other Stories (African Writers Series) by Hama Tuma on 4 pages
- The Birth of Tragedy (Dover Thrift Editions) by Friedrich Nietzsche on page 16, and page 17
- Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin on page 65, and page 67
- Political Values and the Educated Class in Africa by Ali A. Mazrui in Front Matter, and page 70
- In the Castle of My Skin (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) by George Lamming on page 23, and page 103
See all 37 books this book cites
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