Reinhard Sander and Bernth Lindfors (Eds), Ngugi wa Thiong'o Speaks: interviews with the Kenyan writer. Oxford: James Currey; Nairobi: EAEP (pb, £19.95 – 0 85255 580 6). 2006, 445 pp.
A substantial collection of interviews spanning the famous Kenyan author/activist's career, Ngugi wa Thiong'o Speaks is, without a doubt, one of the most important resources to emerge for Ngugi scholarship. The cover, modelled after Ngugi's previous James Currey publications – Writers in Politics, Decolonising theMind and Moving the Centre – serves as a familiar marker, signalling an addition to Ngugi's work. In fact, at a glance, one might mistake the book for one of Ngugi's publications. And, as the title attests, Ngugi's voice is front and centre in this collection.
The editors, Reinhard Sander and Bernth Lindfors (with the assistance of Lynette Cintrón), reinforce this focus, strengthening Ngugi's voice with their impeccable research and reader-friendly style and presentation. The chronological list of Ngugi's publications that prefaces the collection, and the ‘Chronology’ that follows it, make it easy for readers to contextualise each interview in relation to Ngugi's life and publishing history. The ‘Chronology’, along with detailed footnotes and the closing ‘Bibliography’ and ‘Index’, all reflect Lindfors's detail-oriented work. Moreover, traditionally marginalized or hard-to-access information is placed at the reader's fingertips, bridging gaps in information technology and institutional accessibility, a gesture that complements Ngugi's politics. All this makes the book an invaluable research instrument for scholars.
The trajectory of Ngugi's politics, or ‘his intellectual engagement with his times’ (p. xii), is central to this book. Among the most interesting development paths is Ngugi's journey towards his stance on the African language question – to write or not to write in colonial languages (English, French, Portuguese, and so on). Ultimately deciding to write in one of Kenya's national languages, Gikuyu, Ngugi discovers his niche and, with a strong dose of polemics, proclaims his rationale again and again, in interview after interview. Ngugi explains how writing in Gikuyu is his gesture towards redistributing power and subverting neo-colonialism. However, while Ngugi's fight continues from 1977 onwards, in his 2003 interview with Harish Trivedi, he states, ‘It is clear that it won’t change the world … ' (p. 412). Yet if there is one thing that this collection does demonstrate, it is how Ngugi's work has changed, and continues to change the world.
While some interviews seem to be bogged down in relative ignorance of Ngugi and his work – an ignorance reflected in repetitive, banal, and at times, insipid interview questions (Trayo A. Ali's 1995 interview, ‘The strength of our people is my inspiration’, for example) – other interviews clearly reflect the ways in which Ngugi's audiences, and specifically his readers in the so-called ‘Third World’, have been changed by his work. For instance, during a 1991 interview with Ngugi, Reed Dasenbrock states, ‘The West Indian writer Roy Heath was saying that your work was a real inspiration to him, in choosing to write more in Creole or nation language … ’ (p. 307). Ngugi's 1988 interview with South African writer, Wally Serote, reverberates with an overwhelming sense of mutual respect for each author's contributions to the struggles against colonialism, neo-colonialism and Apartheid. The 1996 interview in India with D. Venkat Rao reflects a genuine and detailed interest in Ngugi's work in Gikuyu, especially as it relates to translation between marginalized languages. Ngugi wa Thiong'o Speaks clearly depicts the breadth of Ngugi's work, but also the depth of the author's humour, patience and generosity.
The editors choose a variety of interviews that provide striking insights into Ngugi's personality. Particularly memorable is ‘Ngugi by telephone’, a 1993 interview with an earnest Stuyvesant High School student, Tami Alpert. After several failed attempts to contact Ngugi in Kenya and England, Alpert discovers that the African writer is teaching at New York University. The humour this piece adds to the collection strongly complements the humour in many of Ngugi's novels and plays, especially his most recent satire Murogi wa Kagogo (2004) (English translation: Wizard of the Crow, 2006).
Several pieces also quite obviously reflect Ngugi's patience with uninformed or under-prepared interviewers. Time and time again, Ngugi responds diplomatically: ‘First of all, I do not agree with the assumption behind the question’ (p. 359). In these instances the reader feels Ngugi's frustration, for it seems that no matter how much or how often he speaks, there is always someone who either fails to hear his words or whose inquiry is underwritten by his/her privilege. Nonetheless, Ngugi never hesitates in correcting his interviewer: ‘First of all, of course, we don’t call them tribal languages; they are national languages' (p. 110). Surely, Ngugi's experiences of colonialism, revolution, neo-colonialism, prison and exile have prepared him for such frustrations, but his willingness to engage continuously in such steep uphill battles is a testament to his passion and fortitude.
Many, if not most, interviewers included in this collection manage to capture that passion and fortitude. Of particular note are Charles Cantalupo's interviews with Ngugi, especially ‘Ngugi wa Thiong’o: moving the centre'. Cantalupo's questions exhibit his preparedness and ability to spar with Ngugi in multiple arenas,from Nelson Mandela's release to Ngugi's newly released Moving the Centre, from Somalia to James Joyce to language. His interviewing style allows Ngugi to speak his mind on a variety of subjects, capturing his passions for social and revolutionary change, but also for literatures and languages.
Like Cantalupo, Sander and Lindfors present a well-rounded depiction of Ngugi. However, while they have done a flawless job researching, documenting and presenting Ngugi's interviews, it is Ngugi's voice and words that captivate the reader and that make this book an invaluable resource.
