African Literature as Political Philosophy (review)

The author offers here a slightly enlarged version of a doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Exploring Literature as Political Philosophy through a Comparative Study of Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’, that won her the CODESRIA doctoral prize in 2005.

After a brief panorama of the seven chapters of her book, Okolo provides a theoretical basis for her viewpoint, highlighting affinities between literature and philosophy, both ‘essentially [considered as] theoretical disciplines’ (p. 13). For her, philosophers and imaginative writers are seen as both ‘intimately connected’ in providing a ‘comprehensive worldview’ (p. 22) and an ideal, having ‘people and their world as the object of their consideration’ (p. 19). She then presents literature as political philosophy, defined as a reflection on the ideal standard for society and government, with African writers assessing political situations and moulding or redirecting their readers’ thoughts. The book introduces Achebe and Ngugi as political thinkers, with Anthills of the Savannah (1987) and Petals of Blood (1977) selected as most representative of this viewpoint. The texts are studied as illustrations of African political philosophy that offer a two-pronged answer to support Ezenwa-Ohaeto’s observation that ‘Africa is not a one-solution continent’ (p. 97). Chapters 4 and 5 consider Achebe’s reformist agenda as illustrated in Anthills, and Ngugi’s Marxist aesthetics in Petals. This is followed by a comparative analysis of the two writers’ views on the African condition, with supportive quotes from Achebe’s and Ngugi’s essays, notably Trouble with Nigeria (1983) and Writers in Politics (1981). The last chapter, which serves as a conclusion, reflects on the possible harmonization of the two writers’ views, offering a middle course for social reconstruction in Africa.

Using, apart from Anthills and Petals, four other novels from Achebe (Things Fall Apart, A Man of the People, Arrow of God and No Longer At Ease) and three from Ngugi (Devil on The Cross, The River Between and Weep Not Child), Okolo seeks to evaluate the extent to which African writers, exemplified by Achebe and Ngugi, may succeed in promoting Africa’s self-understanding. In the course of the book, other works are briefly considered to support this view: poetry, with Diop’s ‘Vultures’; the novel, with Sembene Ousmane’s God’s Bits of Wood, La Guma’s In the Fog of the Season’s End and Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born; theatre, with Soyinka’s Trials of Brother Jero; and the short story, with Nwosu’s ‘The Honourable Fartheads’. Okolo pleads for an open-minded, analytical approach that goes beyond an acceptance of the writers’ propositions, considered as part of a vast theoretical discussion on the role of philosophy. This leads her to a prolonged discussion of various leading philosophers including Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Gandhi and Marx – 43 pages are devoted to the philosophical exploration of the above thinkers’ works, to the exclusion of any reference to literature, with the rest of the book interspersed with substantial paragraphs referring to the same discussion. The author justifies these pages on philosophy by the perceived necessity of providing a politico-ideological context to support her thesis on Achebe and Ngugi, but, on balance, the content of the book seems somehow to betray its title.

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that Achebe and Ngugi’s common concern was with the African condition and that both writers recognized politics as a key determinant of this condition. It also meant to highlight their significant contribution in the building of a framework facilitating a reflection on African politics. This purpose has been achieved, yet somewhat painstakingly, leaving the impression that the thesis is a diamond that did not quite leave its gangue.