Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature

by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Book Overview

Ngugi describes this book as 'a summary of some of the issues in which I have been passionately involved for the last twenty years of my practice in fiction, theatre, criticism and in teaching of literature. North America: Heinemann; Kenya: EAEP

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0852555016
• ISBN13: 9780852555019
• Release Date: June 1986
• Publisher: James Currey
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Very good quality

The book arrived a lot earlier than the estimated delivery date and in good condition. My only problem with this delivery however, was that I received a slip from the mail service stating that the sender did not pay full postage and I had to send stamps of equal value as that stated on the slip for the package to be sent to me eventually. I didn't really like this because I was charged for postage when I made the order and I don't understand why I had to pay a second time.

Great Reading

I thought this book was really thought provoking and helps to highlight the damage done to our African languages by colonialists. Sadly, we now have an increasing number of Africans who seem to take pride in how well their kids know foreign languages when they cannot even speak the tongue of their birth!

insightuful, thought-provoking, life changing

I WAS IN THE UNIVERISTY WHEN I FIRST HAD TO READ NGUGI'S DECOLONSING THE MIND. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT THIS WAS THE BOOK THAT DEFINED THE DIRECTION OF MY COLLEGE CAREER. THROUGH PERSONAL EXAMPLES AND GENERAL OVERVIEWS OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE NEO-COLONIAL AFRICAN STATE, NGUGI HAS WRITTEN A MUST-READ FOR ANY AFRICAN WHO HAS COME INTO CONTACT WITH WESTERN CULTURE, MAY THAT BE THROUGH LANGUAGE, SCHOOLING, OR ONE'S PLACE OF RESIDENCE. UNTIL I READ THIS BOOK, I DID NOT REALIZE HOW PROFOUNDLY THE RACIST NOTIONS OF THE WESTERN WORLD AFFECTED MY THOUGHT PROCESS AND THE WAY THAT I VIEWED THE WORLD AROUND ME; ESPECIALLY THE WAY THAT I VIEWED MYSELF. THIS BOOK WILL BECOME INDISPENSABLE TO ANY PERSON THROUGHOUT THE AFRICAN DIASPORA WHO HAS EXPERIENCED ANY OF THE FEELINGS OF DISPLACEMENT, SELF-HATRED, AND ANXIETY THAT NGUGI SO ELOQUENTLY DESCRIBES. A MUST HAVE.