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Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Ali Mazrui, Calestous Juma, Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o, Thomas R. Odhiambo, Bethwell Allan Ogot, Simon Gikandi, Francis D. Imbuga. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Ali Al'amin Mazrui (born February 24, 1933 in Mombasa, Kenya) is an academic and political writer on African and Islamic studies and North-South relations. He is an Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Mazrui studied at schools in Mombasa, in Kenya. Mazrui obtained his B.A. with Distinction from Manchester University in Great Britain in 1960, his M.A. from Columbia University in New York in 1961, and his doctorate (DPhil) from Oxford University (Nuffield College) in 1966. Upon completing his education at Oxford University, Mazrui joined the faculty of Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda), where he served as head of the Department of Political Science and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. He served at Makerere University until 1973, when he was forced into exile by Idi Amin. In 1974, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan as professor and later was appointed the Director of the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies (1978-1981). In 1989, he was appointed to the faculty of Binghamton University, State University of New York as the Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies (IGCS). In addition to his appointments as the Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, Professor in Political Science, African Studies, Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies (IGCS), Mazrui also holds three concurrent faculty appointments as Albert Luthul...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=3058176 ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Achille Mbembe, Edward Said, Post-Colonialisme, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Homi Bhabha. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Achille Mbembe est né au Cameroun en 1957. Il obtient son doctorat en histoire à l'université de la Sorbonne à Paris, en France, en 1989. Par ailleurs il est titulaire d'un DEA en science politique de l'Institut d'études politiques, toujours à Paris. Reconnu comme l'un des plus grands théoriciens actuels du post-colonialisme, Il est intervenu dans de nombreuses universités et institutions américaines dont l'université Columbia de New York, la Brookings Institution de Washington, l'université de Pennsylvanie, l'université de Californie, Berkeley, l'université Yale mais aussi au Conseil pour le développement de la recherche en sciences sociales en Afrique (Codesria) à Dakar au Sénégal. Il est actuellement membre de l'équipe du Wits Institute for Social ... Read more

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A collection of essays by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A quest for literary "African-ness"
Although this book is currently "out of print", I decided nevertheless to write the first customer review about it.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is a well-known and respected Kenyan writer, among African intellectuals and thinkers on the continent of Africa. He earlier published under the name "James Ngugi" [for that is what he was then called] before he purged the European "James" from his African identity -- something a little akin to what Malcolm X did with his name branded on him by the white man. This book is a radical, unconventional book. It is a book for Africa. Ngugi is a proud, serious and no-nonsense African writer who has every reason to say what he says!

Ngugi's own personal story is that of a principled African writer on a pilgrimage of cultural metamorphosis and self-discovery. Earlier, Ngugi used to write the kind of "sweet", seriously written, best-selling African novels that wouldn't be branded "pan-African" or "Afro-centric". Books like "Weep not, Child", "The River Between" are African classics of yesteryear. These earlier books are also landmarks in Ngugi's career and, therefore, no throw-away literature. Maybe they even earned him more money.

But that was before Ngugi learnt his lesson and made his decision. In the 70's, his outlook was changing radically and he even came in confrontation with the Kenyan government and was imprisoned for his satirical play, "I Will Marry When I Want", which was an under-the-belt punch in the balls of the Kenyan government! He became a steadfast Marxist and socialist around that time and he later had to go and live in exile. I think he still lives in Sweden now.

Ngugi is a very serious African writer, whose style and choice of theme in his books changed profoundly throughout the seventies. I think "Writers in Politics" is a culmination of these pan-African ideas that convinced him through these years. In these essays, Ngugi argues for African literature to be written by Africans in their African languages. Failure to that, he opines, African literature will never be African in its entirety and that African writers will always be "neo-colonial" in their approach to -- and portrayal of -- African tradition, reality and culture they shall attempt to recount, or make account of, in their "neo-colonial" books. Ngugi says every writer is a writer "inpolitics". Ngugi brings forth many, many complex and interesting arguments in his book.

And there are also references to that sinful institution of American Slavery, to men like Thomas Jefferson, to American historical documents, etc. It's all very interesting to read. Pity, though, thatNgugi's plea to his fellow African writers -- to write books in their mother language -- has so far met harsh resistance and criticism from most African writers, who dismiss Ngugi's propositions as anything from "impracticable" to "nutty". It looks like these harsh critics are still so in love with the white man's language that the white man brought to them. I personally think Ngugi has a point there and that Ngugi's ideas will be revisited in the future, by more enlightened "clubs" of African writers, who will rejuvenate his ideas. As a way of setting an example, Ngugi stopped writing in English and writes only in his native Gikuyu; the books are then translated to English. Well done, Ngugi!

"Writers in politics" is, I think, one of Ngugi's last books written in the English language. It is an in-depth analysis of an Africa caught in the cultural doldrums of today's unpredictable status quo, after slavery and colonialism. It is a book about "neo-colonialism". I think readers who like this book will also find "Decolonising The Mind" -- another Ngugi book -- interesting. The two books have many common themes and lines of argument. "Writers In Politics" is a book about the progression of African literature and its meaningfulness as seen by a literary seer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ngugi
It is indeed depressing that these series of short stories are out of print. Is there a way to get them back into print?

Tragedy
It's a tragedy this important book is no longer in print.It's a depressing commentary on the state of literature.Ngugi wa Thiogo's stories are stunning. ... Read more

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Poet, Marxist critic and activist, Varavara Rao (VV) has been continually persecuted by the state and intermittently imprisoned since 1973, but he never stopped writing during all these decades, even from within prison. When he was subjected to one thousand days of solitary confinement during 1985­ 89 in Secunderabad Jail, a leading national daily invited him to write about his prison experiences.While prison writing is a hoary tradition, no writer has had the opportunity to publish his writings from jail. VV, however, did meet the demands placed on him as a writer, despite constraints of censorship by jail authorities and the Intelligence section. He decided to test his creative powers in jail on the touchstone of his readers response and expressed himself in a series of thirteen remarkable essays on imprisonment, from prison. ... Read more

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Book DescriptionWho is Matigari? Is he young or old? Dead or living... or even Jesus Christ? These are the questions asked by the people when a man who has survived a war for independence emerges from the mountains. Matigari is in search of his family, the rebuilding of his home and the start of a new and peaceful future. But his search becomes a quest for truth and justice as he finds the people still dispossessed and the land he loves ruled by corruption, fear, and misery. Rumor springs up that a man with superhuman powers has risen to renew the freedom struggle. The novel races towards its climax as Matigari realizes that words alone cannot defeat the enemy. He vows to use force of arms to achieve his true liberation. Lyrical and hilarious in turn, Matigari is a memorable satire on the betrayal of human ideals and on the bitter experience of post-independence African society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Matigari
Using Christian analogies, the book is is a metaphor for Kenya's - and all African countries' - struggle for freedom and an end to corruption. The fictional title character was so realistic that the Kenyan government issued a warrant for his arrest and banned the book! ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from UN Chronicle, published by United Nations Publications on March 1, 2009. The length of the article is 1053 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Learning from slavery-the legacy of the slave trade on modern society.(Essay)
Author: Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Publication: UN Chronicle (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2009
Publisher: United Nations Publications
Volume: 46Issue: 1-2Page: 6(2)

Article Type: Essay

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 3938 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Power Daemons.(Excerpt)(Fictional work)
Author: Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Publication: World Literature Today (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 80Issue: 5Page: 12(6)

Article Type: Fictional work, Excerpt

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more