STYLE AND LANGUAGE OF REPRESENTATION IN NGUGI WA THIONG'O'S WIZARD OF THE CROW
Keywords:
Style, representation, corruption, neocolonialism, imperialismAbstract
Meaning is always produced within and through language which consists of signs organized
into various relationships. And representation is an essential part of the process by which
meaning is produced and exchanged through members of a given culture. Ngugi wa Thiong’o
in Wizard of the Crow uses his style of storytelling as a potent and viable means of rejecting
and registering his dissatisfaction and discontentment at neo-colonialism, dictatorship and
imperialism and employs the language of representation as a module for resistance. Even as
many African nations try to toss off colonialism and imperialism, this research posits, that the
themes of corruption and ineptitude leadership as contained in the novel are still obtainable in
the present-day African political context and are integral to the politics of neo-colonialism. It
therefore, argues, that for the fight for an authentic voice and representational governance to
be achieved, Africans must eschew corruption and equally realize that the requisite tools for
development has nothing to do with geographical location or skin color but rather with the
harnessing of the resources both human and natural within the borders of one’s country and
using those resources effectively to provide essential needed goods and services for the
people. It concludes that our language of representation can serve as a tool for resistance, a
form of new reality and a module through which people can rediscover and renew
themselves.
Keywords: Style, representation, corruption, neocolonialism, imperialism
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