Interview: Ngugi wa Thiong'o

An interview with leading Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o by Koye Oyedeji ahead of the release of his new book 'Wizard of the Crow'.

Kenyan Ngugi Wa-Thiongo is considered one of the most significant writers to have emerged from the African continent. He is the author, essayist and playwright of fourteen books, among them seven novels, of which the latest 'Wizard of the Crow' is published in paperback in April. Ngugi was detained without trial in 1977 for his outspoken criticism of the Kenyan government. The following year, between his release and subsequent exile, he stoked a fire of debate that has intensified over the years when he declared that he would no longer write in English and turned to writing his native Gikuyu tongue. The first work of his new assailment was the novel 'Devil On The Cross' , published in 1980 but originally written in 1977 on toilet paper while detained in prison.

Ngugi’s work came to possess a conversational cadence that refused to adhere to a literary pastiche often associated with the west. Without us openly witnessing the “internal dialogue” of the protagonist, indeed on occasion often without secure protagonists hogging narratives, Ngugi’s texts harked back to the basic art of story telling, a thinking man’s folktale that borrowed heavily from oral narratives, fables, proverb and song.

Wizard of the Crow continues the trend. It is fear and loathing in the fictional neo-colonial state of Aburiria, a light-hearted allegory featuring The Ruler, a neurotic and insecure dictator, and Kamiti the elusive wanderer that takes up the mantel of Wizard of the Crow.

Language and translation aside, how do you view the relationship between the African writer and writers of the African diaspora?

Well in a way you cannot avoid the language question. The most important thing for an African writer is his relationship to his or her African language. African writers working in colonial languages can be unclear as to who their audiences are. They are not addressing the very same people or culture that is enriching their writing. Then in relation to the diaspora the question of translation becomes very important. There should be a programme of translation of works by writers of the African diaspora into African languages. There should be no reason why we should not have the works of Toni Morrison etc., writers of African ancestry, translated into African languages.

Do you see yourself as an ambassador for African Languages?

I feel very strongly about it. There are so many things that have gone wrong with Africa arising from lack of self confidence, I believe this begins with the fact that we are uncomfortable with our languages, so much so that we borrow from others and then inevitably we become uncomfortable in “borrowed gowns”. We ought to be translating what the best of other languages have to offer into African languages.

Is this something that you hold up as an ideal or do you consider it economically viable?

It’s financially achievable, but writing in our languages should not depend on whether there is a market. Saying that, Africa is an untapped market, I see Wizard of the Crow as a model for what African languages can achieve.

Can we expect further translations of Wizard of the Crow?

I’m very proud of the fact that my latest novel Wizard of the Crow is widely available in Gikuyu, it is now available in English and will soon be available in Finnish and in Spanish.

Are there any translation programmes that you are currently involved in?

I am also Director of the International Centre for writers in translation at the University of California. Through the centre we are able to carry out programs that encourage conversations amongst marginalised languages and address the issue of translation between them.

Do you see academia in Africa as encouraging or inhibiting this indigenous dialogue?

The challenge for academia in Africa is for them to really rethink their relationship to the linguistic basis of production of knowledge. We as African intellects leave out our basis for originality. Here we have our languages not really utilised in any intellectual sense. It’s a virgin territory and a territory we can explore; something we can give to the world.

Wizard of the Crow is published in Harvill and Secker hardback and out on paperback 5th April.