The representation of women in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's The River Between and AGrain ofWheat: An ideological approach

Abstract

This study examines how women are portrayed from an ideological perspective in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's The River Between and A Grain of Wheat. Ideology refers to a set of beliefs or principles that shape a person or group of people's understanding of the world and their place in it. Literary representation refers to the way in which ideas, characters and events are portrayed in literature. The relationship between ideology and literary representation is complex, but in general, literature can reflect and shape the ideology of an individual or group. The study critically interprets the novels using concepts such as dominant, authorial, esthetic, patriarchal and gendered ideologies and conducts a qualitative analysis of the data. The results show that powerful ideologies constrain women. Ngũgĩ's authorial ideology emphasizes the various roles that women fulfill in society. The study shows how the portrayal of women in the two novels reflects the social reality of the times in which the women lived. They are portrayed as the main custodians of their traditions and culture. The novels portray women as central figures who have played and continue to play an important role in shaping the Kenyan nation. Overall, the study contributes to the scholarly discourse on the representation of women in post-colonial African literature.