1. This was written ca. 1968. Ngugi claims it's “nonsense to talk of modern African literature without French.” What does he mean? Have things changed since then? Explain.
In the 1960's, a large amount of African countries were colonized by France. The French language therefore became more and more important in Africa and many African languages started adopting French words. Soon, French became omnipresent in African literature and culture. Ngugi is thus referring to the importance of French in African literature by stating that it's “nonsense to talk of modern African literature without French.” However, things have definitely changed since then. Colonialism is no longer extant and the French no longer have control over African literature. Nevertheless, many West African countries continue to use French as their mother-tongue and French remains a popular language in African literature. It can also be added that currently, English has become more and more influential in African literature and culture; not due to colonialism but to the USA's and England's cultural appeal to Africans.
1. Why does Ngugi argue for the inclusion of oral literature in the department? Is his argument still valid in light of the changes in African popular cultures?
He argues for the inclusion of oral lit in the department because of the fact that oral lit plays such a significant role in African literature and tradition. African literature cannot be studied without studying the very important structures and styles of oral literature. It's been around for centuries and accounts for a large part of African literature, music, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, religion and philosophy. His argument is still valid even with changes in African pop culture because oral lit still remains very extant in Africa. Most stories and legends only exist as oral literature and haven't been written upon although that's changing rapidly
5. Discuss Ngugi's conclusion, especially his attitude toward “literary excellence.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
An interesting quote from his conclusion is that “education is a means of knowledge about ourselves.” I agree with this statement because it makes sense that one finds out more about his or her roots and personality through learning more
As for the “literary excellence”, Ngugi raises an excellent point about perspective. Literature isn't “excellent” simply because it's written in a certain way but the audience also matters because the audience is the ultimate judge. One cannot simply “fight against Bad English” or bad literature as Orwell suggests because perspective matters. Ngugi also believes that African literature must be seen from an African perspective, which makes sense to a certain extent but approaching any work of literature from a very limited perspective isn't good. In today's world, things must be seen from international perspective not only from an African perspective.
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