Appropriation and Abrogation in Camara Laye’s The Dark Child (1953) and Ngugi Wa Thiong’O’s Weep, Not Child (1964)
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Date
2024
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi Ouzou
Abstract
This work explores the representation of the concepts of Appropriation and Abrogation in Camara Laye’s The Dark Child (1953) and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not Child (1964). This comparative study aims to provide an insight into the colonial effect on the indigenous African identity and land, they explore the themes of the cultural values, and exploitation, they also illustrate how these natives have resisted and struggled to preserve their cultural identities in the face of colonial pressures. To achieve our purpose, we have relied on Homi K. Bhabha’s theory The Location of Culture (1994) by using some of his concepts such as ‘Mimicry’, ‘The Third Space’…etc. In the first chapter of the dissertation, we have examined the occurrence of Appropriation in Camara Laye’s autobiographical novel The Dark Child, and Ngugi’s Weep Not, Child, they analyze the protagonists negotiation with colonial education and its impact on traditional values, highlighting the tension between assimilation and cultural preservation. In the second chapter, we have dealt with Abrogation in the two novels, emphasizing on the characters’ confrontation with similarly cultural and political dilemmas. We have concluded that this two African works share many affinities, and the study of the two writings demonstrate a dynamic interplay between adaptation and resilience.
Description
52p. ; (+CD-Rom)
Keywords
Appropriation, Abrogation, indigenous, African identity, cultural identities, colonial pressures, Mimicry, The Third Space, colonial education, traditional values
Citation
General and Comparative Literature