An Exhilarating Celebration of a Friend’s Life Ngũgĩ: Reflections on His Life of Writing ed. by Simon Gikandi and Ndirangu Wachanga (review)

The prestigious collaboration and editing of Simon Gikandi, Robert Schirmer Professor and Chair of the English department at Princeton, along with Ndirangu Wachanga, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, underscores the brilliance of Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo’s life with a collection of poetry and essays in tribute to an enchanting life of a man who is a philanthropic, literary, and theoretical beacon.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o turned eighty in 2018 and this book is in celebration of a life dedicated to transforming his native Kenya from an oppressed nation dismantled by political influence into a nonpartisan independent nation. The book incorporates a considerable amount of background material on the state of the Kenyan government, which allows the reader to grasp the gravity of his life’s work. Ngũgĩ is a political activist and his method of empowering the common people by using the local language, Gĩkũyũ, has been documented by many of the contributors, who know Ngũgĩ as a person, writer, and critic. Alamin Mazrui worked with Ngũgĩ in efforts to promote Gĩkũyũ using Cognitive Linguistics. Mazrui, a Kenyan-born American academic, wrote an essay proclaiming their quest for a paradigm shift as they felt, “the struggle over languages and meanings is also a struggle to reclaim Africa’s history” (154). Their efforts deepened the understanding of the many cultural and institutional spaces in which they worked. Emilia Llieva, author and academic scholar, concurs and writes in her essay about insights to Ngũgĩ’s dedication of local languages as well, stating, “he guards against the isolation of African languages from the tradition of progressive human thought expressed in a diversity of languages and cultures” (134). The book is equally significant and true to Ngũgĩ’s argument as it publishes many items in the Gĩkũyũ language (with a translation in the appendix). There are some difficulties in reading all the African names and words. If you are not familiar with the language, reading some of the elements will lack congruity and cohesion.

The book is organized in five parts. Each section has a significant theme. Part I begins with poetry, songs, and celebratory essays of Ngũgĩ’s life; some of them in Gĩkũyũ with translations. Parts II, III, and IV are all essays from friends and associates, which allow the reader to look closely at Ngũgĩ from academic and personal meetings. Part V is inclusive of only four items, all written by Ngũgĩ: two speeches in Gĩkũyũ (translated), an essay, and a poem. The book is complete with perspectives that document Ngũgĩ’s complex history and his determination to lift the oppressive veil of the Kenyan government that subjugated his community, placed him in exile, and denied freedom of literary expression.

The cover photograph of Ngũgĩ is by extension the threshold to which he demonstrates influence and confidence. The photograph shows Ngũgĩ pointing his two forefingers outward, as if to exclaim his views emphatically. The subtitle, Reflections on his Life of Writing, indicates thought, contemplation, and identification of a wider community of readers with a deliberate marking of the difference Ngũgĩ made with his literary contributions. The book will be helpful to academics studying the influence of local language, or those who have interest in the social sciences, political sciences, or critical theory.