Mirroring the Subtext: Postmodernism in Ngugi wa Thiongo's Wizard of the Crow

Abstract

This reading of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Wizard of the Crow attempts to place the text in the postmodern writing tradition. We point out how surrealistic features are utilized to enhance the themes, style, and the author's conundrums. Ngugi has been accused of focusing on ideologies at the expense of creativity. Wizard of the Crow is, however, a purely artistic text where Ngugi's creativity is plausibly developed, without hindering his ideological expression. The fact that the text was originally written in Gikuyu helps the writer draw from the resource of traditional discourse, and arguably enable not only Gikuyu culture, but also their worldview and history negotiate for a global position in line with emerging postmodern imperatives.