CONTENDING INTERTEXTUAL TROPES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE: READING FROM TWO KENYAN TEXT

CONTENDING INTERTEXTUAL TROPES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE: READING FROM TWO KENYAN TEXT

ABSTRACT

African writers have shown that literature can do more than just narration. They use several elements of narration that indicate their cultural background, ideological inclination, and peculiar experiences. More often than not, intertextual tropes are downplayed or lightly considered as mere literary elements rather than the driving forces to every work of literature ever written by any writer, be it African or Westerner. This study examined how two Kenyan texts engage in a dialogue on certain post-colonial conceptions. Its specific objectives were to make discernible how African writers inter-textualise their experiences; identify the resonance of (post) colonial tropes in African literature; and discuss the implications of these resonances to the examination of intertextual tropes in the selected texts. The two purposivey selected texts from African literary canon are The Trial of DedanKimathi co-authored MicereGithaeMugo and Matigari by NgugiwaThiong’o alone. Both written by Kenyan authors.The theoretical framework was hinged on the tenets of Post-colonialism alongside references to Julia Kristeva’s notions on intertextuality as enunciated in her works.

Also in actualizing its aim, the study identified that the contending intertextual tropes in African literature could be portrayed from several perspectives. These are as: trope of capitalism, Mau Mau struggle, and trope of religion.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Literature can be said to be a mirror of life or a catalogue of experiences which relies on creative expressions. All literary writers, African or Western, explore imaginative infrastructure to weave a vision of an invented or infracted world in their creative explorations. However, many African writers have shown that literature can do more than narration. They have used literature as a revolutionary tool to advance the course of justice and seek redress against injustices. These writers also utilize literature as a medium to promote national spirit and insert cultural consciousness in Africans.

The debate on what African literature is has long been in the corridor of scholarship. Some scholars believe African literature to be a reflection of the past, explanation of the present and probably the prophet of the future. African literature has aesthetic, social, and personal significance. Thus, the social, historical and aesthetic context of Africa literature is coupled with its reflective impact on the mental worldview of African people. In the pre-colonial Africa, African literature concentrated more on showcasing African values and framework, while the colonial and post-colonial African literature expand its focus cum subject-matters to include the portraits of the colonized peoples and their lives as imperial subjects.

The oral literature which is the first form of African literature, symbolizes the creative spirit of the African community; it involves the methods through which our society manages to pass down knowledge, experiences and values from one generation to another. It boasts of different genres of most of which are reflections of highly innovative perspectives of African people about the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial African society. In essence, the pre-colonial African history revolves around oral literature, the colonial African literature focus on European decadence and contributions of Africans to such decadence. The post-colonial African literature in it domain presents reader with vivid narration of the political, social, and cultural aftermath of colonial experiences in the African society.

CONTENDING INTERTEXTUAL TROPES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE: READING FROM TWO KENYAN TEXT

Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email

Number of Pages: 63

Price: 3000 NGN

In Stock

Buy the Complete Material Now