The following interview of Ngugi wa Thiong'o from the Nairobi paper, East African Standard, was seen on AllAfrica.com at http://allafrica.com/stories/200701190940.html (I added Q for the interviewer's question and A for the response)... DZO
Kenya: Ngugi's Inspiration The East African Standard (Nairobi) http://www.eastandard.net/ INTERVIEW January 19, 2007 Posted to the web January 19, 2007 Nicholas Asego Nairobi Q: With the publishing of Devil on the Cross, you stopped the use of English as a means of artistic expression. Did this change your perception of aesthetics? A: I realised there was a disconnect between my writing and the people I wrote about. I wanted to capture the history, culture and ways of the Kenyan people and needed to do this using an African language. When the people took arms against the British, do you think that they used English in their planning? There was need to use a language rooted in the African experience, an aesthetic reflecting on that experience. This is the aesthetic of the ordinary person; this is where I am moving and would like to contribute to its higher appreciation. Q: What has been the reaction of your readers to this shift? A: The change has not been much. A book, whether written in Gikuyu or any other local language, can be translated for the larger audience. Devil on the Cross was in Gikuyu originally but has been translated into Kiswahili, English and even Spanish. So readers just have to be patient and wait for the translation. Murogi wa Kagogo has already been translated into English (Wizard of the Crow) and others in Kiswahili, Spanish, Finnish are to follow. We just need to shift our mentality from the way we look at the issues in relation to language. Through translation we can reach the global audience. Q: Reading your earlier books like Njamba Nene's Pistol (1990) and Barrel of a Pen: Resistance to Repression in Neo-colonial Kenya, one is tempted to think that you advocate violence. A: These books have to be placed within a historical context. The gun has to be seen in the context of our history. The gun in the hand of an organised resistance should be seen differently from the one in the hand of a criminal. I was hoping to re-develop the Njamba Nene series into 10 books to help children understand why freedom fighters did what they did. I would never introduce violence into literature for children. Q: Why do you remain stuck in ideologies of the 1960s and 1970s concerning socialism, capitalism and globalisation? A: The world today suffers from two rifts. The first one is between minority of wealthy nations in the West (read America) and the poor nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These minority nations depend on the wealth and resources of the poor nations. This gap is still widening today, not closing. The second rift occurs, as the few social 'haves' increasingly get wealthier at the expense of the 'have-nots'. Look around, for every skyscraper there is a slum around. The same is found even in Manhattan in the US. These two rifts are continually widening and this creates great instability. So you may ask what are my books doing? I have endeavoured to deal with poverty, social, political and cultural aspects of life. I wish every leader would read Wizard of the Crow because I have addressed these issues. I really wish we could see these issues as belonging to the past but unfortunately they are still very much with us today. Q: You have been a strong advocate for culture. Don't you think that some groups like Mungiki who support female circumcision might have heeded your call to preserve their culture? A: When you read The River Between, Muthoni dies after undergoing female circumcision. This shows that this is not a good practice. We need to stop looking at culture from the colonial perception that it is static. Colonisers believed that African culture simply involved the wearing of a skin and not cloth. Look at tourists, the picture they have of Africa is that of a lion and a Masaai moran herding his cattle. However, culture is dynamic and things are bound to change. One cannot say that African culture is walking and worshipping under trees (since we did not have buses to reach the places then). We must accept that culture changes, just as we have Maasai herding cattle we also have Maasai with degrees and wearing suits. We have huts and skyscrapers also. This is what comprises our culture. Any group that operates on the past have missed the point. Q: You have insinuated that Kenya under the leadership of President Mwai Kibaki is better off than it was during the rule of retired President Daniel arap Moi. How? A: Moi's period should not be compared to any other period. During Moi's time, people got killed while many others disappeared. There were too many incarcerations, and many people were forced into exile. The culture of fear was so strong that you could see fear in the eyes of Kenyans. You talked while looking over your shoulders. My book Detained describes this culture of fear. This Government has changed the situation because it has enlarged the democratic space. It still is yet to be perfect but let it be criticised in its own terms but not compared with the previous one. Kenyans need to be vigilant and protect this democratic space. We need to cherish it without being complacent. Q: Are you planning to settle here soon? A: (Laughing). I often get asked that question. Have you heard that I have been offered a job here and refused? The important thing for me is to continue contributing to Kenya from wherever I am. When I first returned to Kenya, I did so with an open heart and I wanted to remain here. But the attack on us (my wife and I) interfered with our plans. 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