Book contents
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o in Context
- Reviews
- Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Childhood
- Part II Colonialism
- Part III Independence and Its Fissures
- Part IV Intellectual Traditions
- Part V Writers in Politics
- Part VI Black Diaspora
- Part VII Literary Influences
- Part VIII Ngugi and Translation
- Chapter 24 Ngugi and His Critics
- Chapter 25 Translation and Language
- Part IX Globalectics
- Part X Tributes
- Further Reading
- Index
- References
Chapter 25 - Translation and Language
Between Orature and Globalectics
from Part VIII - Ngugi and Translation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 May 2026
Edited by
Book contents
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o in Context
- Reviews
- Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Early Childhood
- Part II Colonialism
- Part III Independence and Its Fissures
- Part IV Intellectual Traditions
- Part V Writers in Politics
- Part VI Black Diaspora
- Part VII Literary Influences
- Part VIII Ngugi and Translation
- Chapter 24 Ngugi and His Critics
- Chapter 25 Translation and Language
- Part IX Globalectics
- Part X Tributes
- Further Reading
- Index
- References
Summary
The politics of Ngugi in translation, especially in English, raises a number of questions, some of which are linked to his decision and reasons to abandon the English language and to write in Gikuyu. This chapter seeks to understand the implications of Ngugi’s translated works for his vision to write in his mother tongue, as both a political and an ideological strategy, and to stop enriching the English heritage at the expense of his mother tongue. And although Ngugi’s novels and essays have been translated into a number of languages across the globe, he has paid closer attention to the translation of his works into English almost immediately after their publication. It also forces us to ask what the straddling between mother tongue and English translation means for Ngugi’s imagined and targeted readers?
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- Ngugi wa Thiong'o in Context , pp. 340 - 358Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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