The East African Standard reports: "... the professor (Ngugi Wa Thiong'o) of comparative literature sat behind a lonely table for the launch of the second instalment of Murogi wa Kagogo ... launched a controversial novel and as silently as he arrived, departed ..."Here are some extracts from the story:
"When I am through with this exam, books aside as my search for a job begins in earnest."
"There was no point in trying to stock books that my clients would not want to borrow ..."
"From the total respondents, 80 per cent said that they would subscribe to the library, with most of them preferring romantic and thriller novels ..."
"In many ways, the school curriculum has been blamed for the half-baked readers that the school system releases into the job market ..."
"Most of new graduates do not value reading for leisure and broadening of knowledge. Many admit that they read only when they have exams ... during literature lessons, learners are drilled for exams ..."
And finally this:
"Those who are not reading should not try to force others to think that no one reads any more," says Munene Wa Mumbi, a Nairobi-based journalist.
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ReplyDeleteIs a link to what Ngugi has to say about his book.
Whose side is The East African Standard on? Why cannot they support Ngugi in his quest? Or is it a quest doomed to failure? Can we ever fully understand the original meaning with depth, nuance and subtlety intact when reading a translation? Is there a soution?
Ngugi's Decolonising the Mind is a very thought provoking book.