Published Online:June 2024
Product Name:The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJES120624
Author Name:V Sakthivel and K Sathya Sai
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:8
The process of reconstructing nationhood and national identity in terms of culture, religion, language, politics, etc. has become one of the greatest challenges faced by the colonized countries after their achieving political freedom. In his novels, Ngũgĩ wa Thiang’o criticizes the presence of “imperial tradition” in African countries, fostered by the local neocolonial bourgeois, as it is detrimental to the reconstruction of national identity and culture. His novels draw the readers’ attention to the “resistance tradition” in the post- independent colonized nations, focused on reconstructing their national identity; however, the continuing imperial tradition makes the struggle a perennial one. This paper explores the elements of constraints in the process of reconstruction activities attempted by African natives to establish nationhood and national identity from cultural debris, with reference to selected works of Ngũgĩ.
Nations that have been liberated from the clutches of Colonial rule and have found themselves left with cultural debris, may naturally be inclined toward the project of rebuilding the nation and reconstructing their culture, language, religion, politics, etc. Having encountered colossal annihilation of national and cultural identity, the patriotic natives have been involved in the reconstruction process.