Before the Rooster Crows

Before the Rooster Crows PDF Author: Kimani, Peter
Publisher: East African Educational Publishers
ISBN: 9966251553
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
This is the story of Muriuki, a young man from a Kenyan village who leaves him home and back-breaking job on a coffee plantation for the city, to pursue wealth, and happiness with his childhood sweetheart Mumbi. But life is not straightforward for the young lovers who become steeped in the quagmire of Kenyan politics, and are confronted with the sophistication of a new world, its economic hardships and brutality, and the racism and persistent inequities of the post-colonial and global society. Then Mumbi is murdered on account of her activism and race, in lineage with so many of her country's historical and fictional female activists. Muriuki avenges her death in a controversial act which reverberates historically and throughout the society in which he lives. But then he experiences betrayal by his own people, which changes him irrevocably.

Approaches to the African Novel

Approaches to the African Novel PDF Author: Charles E. Nnolim
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 9788422195
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This Third Edition of Approaches to the African Novel is a child of necessity. Because of the unfortunate death of the publisher of Saros International who issued the First Edition and high demand this third, enlarged edition has become imperative. Three new essays (all previously published) are added, two expectedly on Achebe (the father of the African novel) and one on Mongp Betiís Mission to Kala which was partially anthologised in Contemporary Literary Criticism (Volume 27, 1984). Achebeís Things Fall Apart as an Igbo national epic has evoked a spate of reactions from critics of African literature especially the troika Chinweizu et al. in Toward the Decolonization of African Literature. It was also anthologised in Modern Black Literature edited by S. Okechukwu Menu (1971). The essay on Arrow of God whose structure and meaning has been largely avoided by other critics is included here for further airing. For gender balance, as the previous volume contained no essays on women writers, an essay on Flora Nwapa has been added. Since the novels discussed in this volume exclusively are on the African literature south of the Sahara, the last essay on Peter Abrahams comes in to round out this collection of essays with a study of a south African writer, for geographical balance.

A Grain of Wheat

A Grain of Wheat PDF Author: Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101584858
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
Barack Obama, via Facebook: “A compelling story of how the transformative events of history weigh on individual lives and relationships.” The Nobel Prize–nominated Kenyan writer’s best-known novel, featuring an introduction by Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Before the Rooster Crows

Before the Rooster Crows PDF Author: Kimani, Peter
Publisher: East African Educational Publishers
ISBN: 9966251553
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
This is the story of Muriuki, a young man from a Kenyan village who leaves him home and back-breaking job on a coffee plantation for the city, to pursue wealth, and happiness with his childhood sweetheart Mumbi. But life is not straightforward for the young lovers who become steeped in the quagmire of Kenyan politics, and are confronted with the sophistication of a new world, its economic hardships and brutality, and the racism and persistent inequities of the post-colonial and global society. Then Mumbi is murdered on account of her activism and race, in lineage with so many of her country's historical and fictional female activists. Muriuki avenges her death in a controversial act which reverberates historically and throughout the society in which he lives. But then he experiences betrayal by his own people, which changes him irrevocably.

Cultural identity in the East African novel

Cultural identity in the East African novel PDF Author: Regina Hartmann
Publisher: diplom.de
ISBN: 3836626721
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: As the Black African writers have taught us, we must dance our word, for in human speech as in dance, lies an offering; to speak and to write is also to offer oneself to the other; it is to be reborn together . This quotation by M. Rombaut locates African literature close to the performing arts. According to his statement African literature seems to transcend the conventional European conception of writing, which is conceiving literature as something planned and permanent. The idea of a literary performance in African writing places the author much closer to the story-teller, who is dependent on his audience and trying to keep in touch with them. By processing their feelings in his performance he gives expression to a common consciousness. In contrast to the Western author who often wants to stand apart from his society, African authors tend to aim their participation in the formation of a shared identity. This paper tries to find out how authors from the framework of East Africa conceive of cultural identity. Basically, I will proceed in two steps: part A is dedicated to the development of a pattern within which the complex issue of identity can be adequately discussed in an East African context. In Part B I will then apply this discussion scheme to three novels which as I will explain are representative for East African writing, in far as this term is justified. Part A starts off from some basic observations about identity, on the foundation of which I want to deduce the structure of my analysis. I will argue that identity is based on ones observation of the environment and on the influence of outsiders. All this is to some extent true for two concepts: individual and cultural identity. The latter develops when a group of individuals feels or is ascribed a common bond apt to correspond to several individual self-concepts. These individuals may then share a feeling of home, which can act as a physical but also mental commitment. Departing form these ideas I will show that four issues might be interesting in dealing with cultural identity, which can be expressed by some central questions: 1.Identity imposed and adopted: In how far can others influence our identity? 2.Identity rediscovered and reinvented:To what extent does our history work on identity? 3.Identity displaced: How does our feeling of physical or mental bond to a physical or mental space I will call home work on identity? 4.Identity integrated: How [...]

Feminist Fables for the Twenty-First Century

Feminist Fables for the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: Maureen Burdock
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476612943
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
This compendium of fables in visual form features women negotiating different types of gender-based violence and inequity in various cultures worldwide. Five graphic narratives expose such issues as femicide, child molestation and female genital mutilation without defining the affected women and girls by their unfortunate circumstances. Highlighting the power of intelligence, humor and decency and the willingness of people to work together to effect social change, these fables--each presented bilingually in English and the protagonist's native language of Spanish, German, Arabic or Swahili--transcend boundaries of gender, race, language and geography without ignoring differences. Subtle ink washes, brilliant colors and detailed crosshatching distinguish the acclaimed magical realist artwork through which the stories unfold.

Critical Readings of the Works of Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Critical Readings of the Works of Ngugi wa Thiong'o PDF Author: Gambo Sani
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1036400476
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
In this collection of scholarly essays on the works of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, one of the most important postcolonial writers alive, the contributors adopt a range of reading approaches and analytical models like feminism, postcolonialism, historicism, formalism, and psychoanalysis, to excavate new meanings and provide fresh insights into Ngugi’s artistic oeuvre. Through some robust and engaging scholarly discourses, the volume animates the politics, poetics, and artistic vision of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, as well as his commitment to the enterprise of decolonisation. The comprehensiveness of this collection is partly illustrated by the fact that it addresses a range of diverse issues in all of Ngugi’s novels, most of his plays, and some of his scholarly works. To this end, the volume is a valuable addition to the body of literature on Ngugi’s works and an important resource material to students, teachers, and researchers of African literature.

Illegal Dreams

Illegal Dreams PDF Author: Joel Mwangi
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1847530443
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
They must travel abroad by hook or by crook; they bribe and corrupt and swim and stow and prostitute and forge but travel they must. These are illegal immigrants who escape frustration, war, hunger, poverty...They are prisoners in a cycle of mediocrity perpetuated by governments that don't perform. The drudgery at home is too much to bear. Lured by prospects of luxury and abundance only seen in movies, they land in Europe, America and elsewhere by whatever means

A Grain of Wheat

A Grain of Wheat PDF Author: Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo
Publisher: Heinemann
ISBN: 9780435909871
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In this ambitious and densely worked novel, we begin to see early signs of Ngugi's increasing bitterness about the ways in which the politicians are the true benefactors of the rewards of independence.

The Postcolonial Novel

The Postcolonial Novel PDF Author: Richard Lane
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 0745632793
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
Richard Lane explores the themes surrounding the postcolonial novel written in English.

The Crocodile's Last Embrace

The Crocodile's Last Embrace PDF Author: Suzanne Arruda
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101459964
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Now appearing in trade paperback original format: "One of the most appealing heroines to appear in the pages on a mystery" (Library Journal). Returning from Europe, intrepid explorer Jade del Cameron arrives in Kenya with bittersweet memories-and the certainty that Africa is her home and Sam Featherstone the man she wants to share her life with. When a letter arrives from America, Jade hopes it's Sam sending word of his return. Instead, it's a message written in the hand of her long- dead fiancé, asking "Why did you let me die?" When two men die under mysterious circumstances and Jade discovers that her old nemesis, Lilith Worthy, has escaped from prison, the deaths and the letter form the most dangerous case Jade has ever faced, pitting her against a ferocious crocodile-and an even more deadly human killer.