Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedoms

by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Overview

Ngugi advocates a cultural shift to redress the last 400 years of domination by a handful of western nations.

In this collection Ngugi is concerned with moving the centre in two senses - between nations and within nations - in order to contribute to the freeing of world cultures from the restrictive walls of nationalism, class, race and gender

Between nations the need is to move the centre from its assumed location in the West to a multiplicity of spheres in all the cultures of the world. Within nations the move should be away from all minority class establishments to the real creative centre among working people in conditions of racial, religious and gender equality.

Kenya: EAEP

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780852555309
Publisher:	BOYDELL & BREWER INC
Publication date:	01/21/1993
Series:	Studies in African Literature
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ngugi is world famous for his novels from Weep Not, Child to Matigari and the impact of his plays, especially in Gikuyu, which led to his detention in Kenya. He is now Professor of Comparative Literature and Performance Studies in New York University. This book reflects many of the concerns found in Decolonising the Mind and Moving the Centre.

Table of Contents

Freeing Culture from Eurocentrism

Towards a Pluralism of Cultures

The Wealth of a Common Global Culture

The Universality of Local Knowledge

Imperialism of Language: English, a Language for the World?

Cultural Dialogue for a New World

The Cultural Factor in the Neo-colonial Era

Freeing Culture from Colonial Legacies

The Writer in a Neo-colonial State

The Role of Intellectual Workers

The Role of the Scholar in the Development of African Literatures

In Moi's Kenya, History is Subversive

The Exile Writes Back

Imperialism & Revolution: Movements for Social Change

Freeing Culture from Racism

The Ideology of Racism

Racism in Literature

Karen Blixen's Africa

Black Power in Britain

Welcome Home Mandela

Matigari, Dreams & Nightmares

Matigari & the Dream of One East Africa

Index

Editorial Reviews

If reading Ngugi's fiction can stir people from stupor, reading his non-fiction works can only do that in greater measure. He has significantly contributed to moving the center through his many years of resistance and writing both fiction and non-fiction in English and especially in Kikuyu. -

AFRICA TODAY - Nikhil Aziz

... the poet or storyteller, he argues, cannot perform his function within his own society unless he shares and enriches its tongue. The Kenyan government only moved decisively against him when he began to do precisely that, first imprisoning him, then driving him into exile. -

LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE - Gerald Moore

For a long time, Ngugi's was a lone voice howling against the wind. Now people like Edward Said have joined in the war against cultural imperialism. -

NEW AFRICAN - Anver Versi

The compelling emotional force of this book emerges from Ngugi's convincing emphasis on a truly universal human culture and his continuing ability to personalize large political issues and to persuasively politicize his own personal experiences.

CHOICE

If reading Ngugi's fiction can stir people from stupor, reading his non-fiction works can only do that in greater measure. He has significantly contributed to moving the center through his many years of resistance and writing both fiction and non-fiction in English and especially in Kikuyu. - Nikhil Aziz in AFRICA TODAY
The compelling emotional force of this book emerges from Ngugi's convincing emphasis on a truly universal human culture and his continuing ability to personalize large political issues and to persuasively politicize his own personal experiences. CHOICE
... the poet or storyteller, he argues, cannot perform his function within his own society unless he shares and enriches its tongue. The Kenyan government only moved decisively against him when he began to do precisely that, first imprisoning him, then driving him into exile. - Gerald Moore in LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE
For a long time, Ngugi's was a lone voice howling against the wind. Now people like Edward Said have joined in the war against cultural imperialism. - Anver Versi in NEW AFRICAN

From the Publisher