Intertextuality in Selected Novels of Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o

Abstract

Postcolonial African fiction has been successful in resisting colonialism and its dehumanizing ideas, which have caused unfathomable physical pain and psychological crises for Africans. While fighting back against the injustices, African writers played a catalyzing role in dismantling the system by creating intertextual connections with different texts from near and beyond. The main objective of this paper is to determine the use of intertexts in selected novels by Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o. The article examines three novels from different periods: <i>Weep Not, Child</i> (1964), <i>Petals of Blood</i> (1977), and <i>Wizard of the Crow</i> (2006). The novels are selected purposively, considering the significant contexts of each of the texts. The contexts include the anti-colonial struggles of the early 1960s, the post-independence disillusionment period, and contemporary neocolonialism. The study relies on the notions of intertextuality propagated by Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva, for these scholars focus on the connection between text and context. After a close reading of the novels, the study identifies intertexts such as quotations, references, citations, and allusions inserted either to reinforce or criticize the meaning under different local and global contexts. Then, through the textual analysis method, the article determines the significant impact of the inserted texts in the novels. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that the intertexts are used aesthetically to criticize monologic narratives, resist post-independence corrupt political systems, and confront the danger of neocolonialism. Furthermore, the article suggests that studies of the intertextuality of novels across periods depict the predicaments of different times and the role of the elites in raising the consciousness of the masses to respond to these predicaments accordingly.