Ngugi wa Thiong’o: “Globalization and African Leadership: Readings from the Wizard of the Crow”
Ngugi wa Thiong’o: “Globalization and African Leadership: Readings from the Wizard of the Crow”, delivered at the University of Witwatersrand, 15 March 2007 hosted by the Platform of Public Deliberation.
At a Glance
The distinguished writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o opens this lecture series with a reflection on the state of African leadership as depicted in his latest novel, Wizard of the Crow, a book that has been described as ‘Ngugi’s crowning achievement in his career thus far.’ The New York Times calls it ‘a literary lion.’ Ngugi captures the root of the problem with African leadership through the words of one of his characters Sikiokuu, Minister of Security of the Ruler of the ‘Free Republic of Aburiria.’ Seeking to ingratiate himself to the Ruler Sikiokuu exclaims: “There is nobody in the whole world who does not know that the Ruler is this Country and this Country is His Mighty Country. It is also well known that many other leaders are jealous of that irrevocable identity. I am a firm believer that You are the Country and the Country is You, and I propose this fact be stated in the constitution: I swear before Your Mighty Presence that I shall myself make a motion in parliament to amend the constitution accordingly.”
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Selected Critical Resources
01. Journal Articles by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (full text)
* Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. ‘Beyond Nativism: An Interview with Ngugi wa Thiong’o’ Research in African Literatures Vol. 35. 3 (Fall 2004): 161-169
* Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. ‘Dramatizing Postcoloniality: Nationalism and the Rewriting of History in Ngugiand Mugo’s “The Trial of Dedan Kimathi”’ History in Africa, Vol. 28. (2001): 225-237
* Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. ‘Europhonism, Universities, and the Magic Fountain: The Future of African Literature and Scholarship’ Research in African Literatures Vol. 31.1 (2000) : 1-11
* Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. ‘Enactments of Power: The Politics of Performance Space’ TDR, No. 41.3 (1997): 11-30
* Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. ‘The Language of African Literature’ New Left Review Vol. I/150 (March-April 1985): 109-127
* Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. ‘Writing for Peace.’ Barrel of a Pen: Resistance to Repression in Neo-Colonial Kenya. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 1983. 71-75
02. Related Articles (full text)
* Njubi Nesbitt, F. ‘African Intellectuals in the Belly
of the Beast: Migration, Identity, and the Politics of Exile’
African Issues, Vol. 30, No. 1 (2002):70-75
03. Web Resources
* www.ngugiwathiongo.com (official home page)
* Rodney, Cabral and Ngugi as Guides to African Postcolonial Literature http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/pos
t/africa/omoregie11.html#mungoshi1
* Staging Liminality: Setting in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/ngugi/ngugi1.html
* The Outsider: an interview with Ng?g? wa Thiong’o
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/
0,,1696522,00.html
* An Interview with Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, May 2004
http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=66&num=10996
* Books and Writers – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ngugiw.htm