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NGUGI WA THIONG’O’NUN BİR BUĞDAY TANESİ ESERİNDE ARADA KÜLTÜR

Year 2022, Issue: 10, 61 - 74, 30.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.48131/jscs.1194293

Abstract

Kenyalı yazar Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Doğu Afrika'nın ilk nesil yazarları arasındadır ve ömürge döneminin sonunda İngilizce yazıp yayınlamaya başlayan Afrikalılar arasında önde gelen isimlerden biridir. Thiong’o’nun Kenya'nın bağımsızlığının kazanılmasıyla ilgili olan tarihsel romanı Bir Buğday Tanesi, ulusal bilinç ve semboller, dekolonizasyon, bağımsızlık ve yeni sömürgecilik gibi çeşitli konuları araştırmaktadır. Romanda Ngũgĩ birçok gerçekçi temayı (şiddet, ihanet vb.) betimler ve insanların sömürge dünyası hakkındaki derin duygularını anlatır. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma, romanı, insanların eylemlerine, karakterlerine ve Mau Mau isyanına ilişkin farklı temsiller açısından metnin yakın bir analizi yoluyla, postkolonyalizm ışığında okumaya çalışır. Çalışma, ulusal bir kültürün nasıl geliştiğini ve ulusal bir ideolojinin nasıl sunulduğunu göstermekte ve Homi K. Bhabha'nın “arada” kavramı üzerinden sömürgeci ile sömürgeleştirilen arasındaki melez ilişkiyi ortaya koymaktadır. Bhabha, sözü edilen terimle ilgili tartışmasında, kültürel üretimin her zaman en ikircikli olduğu yerde en üretken olduğunu göstermek için melezlik, taklit, müzakere, boşluk ve eşik gibi kavramları kullanır. Bu temas bölgesi, sömürge sonrası kültür bağlamında, bir sömürge istilası ve direniş yeri haline gelir; aynı zamanda bir işbirliği ve kabul, iletişim ve taklit yeridir ve insanların kolonyal kültürden kültürü nasıl seçip yarattığını açıklamak için kullanılır. Homi K. Bhabha'nın “aradaki” kavramının teorik desteğine dayanan bu çalışma, kültürlerin karışımının yeni bağımsız ülkeler için sömürgeciliğin gölgesinden çıkmanın etkili bir yol olduğunu gösteren romanda ara kültürün gelişme olasılığını analiz etmektedir.

References

  • Ashcroft, B. (2010). Transnation. In Wilson, J., Şandru, C., & Welsh, S. L. (Eds.), Rerouting the postcolonial: New directions for the new millennium (pp. 72-85). London: Routledge.
  • Aschroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (Eds.) (2000). Postcolonial studies: the key concepts. London: Routledge. Bhabha, H. K. (1995). Cultural diversity and cultural differences. In Ashcroft, B., Gareth Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (Eds.), The postcolonial studies reader (pp. 206-209). London: Routledge.
  • Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. London: Routledge.
  • Fanon, F. (2005). The wretched of the earth. New York: Grove Press.
  • Gikandi, S. (2000). Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Khuraijam, G., Acharjee, S. (2013). Nation in question in Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace. The Criterion: An International Journal in English, Vol. III, Issue III, 1-6.
  • Loomba, A. (2015). Colonialism / postcolonialism. London: Routledge.
  • McLeod, J. (2010). Beginning postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Nicholls, B. (2010). Ngugi wa Thiong’o, gender, and the ethics of postcolonial reading. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
  • Said, E. W. (1993). Culture and imperialism. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Singh, D. K. (2015). Debating socio-cultural identity: Spaces of negotiation in Ngugi’s A Grain of Wheat. Dialogue: A Journal Devoted to Literary Appreciation, Volume XI, No I, 23-30.
  • Wa Thiong’o, N. (2012). A Grain of wheat. London: Penguin Books.

IN-BETWEEN CULTURE IN NGUGI WA THIONG’O’S A GRAIN OF WHEAT

Year 2022, Issue: 10, 61 - 74, 30.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.48131/jscs.1194293

Abstract

Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is one of the leading names among East Africa’s first generation of writers, that is, those Africans who began to write and publish in English at the end of the colonial era. His historical novel A Grain of Wheat, which is concerned with the achievement of Kenyan independence, explores several issues such as national consciousness and symbols, decolonisation, independence, and neocolonialism. In the novel, Ngũgĩ portrays lots of realistic themes (violence, betrayal, etc.) and describes people’s deep feelings about the colonial world. In this context, this study attempts to read the novel in light of postcolonialism, through a close analysis of the text in terms of its different representations of people’s activities, characters, and the Mau Mau revolt. The study shows how a national culture develops and how a national ideology is presented, and reveals the hybrid relationship between the colonizer and the colonized in terms of Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of “in-between”. In his discussion of the mentioned term, Bhabha uses concepts such as hybridity, mimicry, negotiation, interstice, and liminality to show that cultural production is always most productive where it is most ambivalent. This contact zone, in the context of postcolonial culture, then, becomes a place of colonial invasion and resistance; also a place of cooperation and reception, communication and mimicry and it is used to explain how people choose and create culture from colonial culture. Relying on the theoretical support of Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the “in-between”, this study analyses the possibility of the development of in-between culture in the novel which demonstrates that the mixture of cultures is an effective way for newly independent countries to get rid of the shadow of colonialism.

References

  • Ashcroft, B. (2010). Transnation. In Wilson, J., Şandru, C., & Welsh, S. L. (Eds.), Rerouting the postcolonial: New directions for the new millennium (pp. 72-85). London: Routledge.
  • Aschroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (Eds.) (2000). Postcolonial studies: the key concepts. London: Routledge. Bhabha, H. K. (1995). Cultural diversity and cultural differences. In Ashcroft, B., Gareth Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (Eds.), The postcolonial studies reader (pp. 206-209). London: Routledge.
  • Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. London: Routledge.
  • Fanon, F. (2005). The wretched of the earth. New York: Grove Press.
  • Gikandi, S. (2000). Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Khuraijam, G., Acharjee, S. (2013). Nation in question in Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace. The Criterion: An International Journal in English, Vol. III, Issue III, 1-6.
  • Loomba, A. (2015). Colonialism / postcolonialism. London: Routledge.
  • McLeod, J. (2010). Beginning postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Nicholls, B. (2010). Ngugi wa Thiong’o, gender, and the ethics of postcolonial reading. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
  • Said, E. W. (1993). Culture and imperialism. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Singh, D. K. (2015). Debating socio-cultural identity: Spaces of negotiation in Ngugi’s A Grain of Wheat. Dialogue: A Journal Devoted to Literary Appreciation, Volume XI, No I, 23-30.
  • Wa Thiong’o, N. (2012). A Grain of wheat. London: Penguin Books.
There are 12 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

İlkay Ağır 0000-0003-1142-1727

Publication Date December 30, 2022
Submission Date October 25, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Issue: 10

Cite

APA Ağır, İ. (2022). IN-BETWEEN CULTURE IN NGUGI WA THIONG’O’S A GRAIN OF WHEAT. Toplum Ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi(10), 61-74. https://doi.org/10.48131/jscs.1194293

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