Abstract
This research is designed to afford the understanding of the common cultural heritage
between francophone and Anglophone postcolonial African literature. For the purpose of this
research, Sembène Ousmane’s God’s Bits of Wood and Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not Child
will serve as reference points for francophone and Anglophone literature respectively within
the paradigm of postcolonial theory. Through a comparative analysis of the themes exploring
colonial resistance in both novels, this research will analyze the socioeconomic contexts
within which the novels were written and how they affect the narrative and the authors’ style
Keywords: colonial resistance, postcolonial, decolonization, postcolonial theory
RESEARCH DESIGN
1.1 General Introduction
The later nineteenth century was a period of dramatic change in African history and the
African condition in general. From the Berlin Conference of 1885 to the end of the Second
World War, most of the African continent was formally under colonial rule; therefore, colonial
historiography of Africa took precedence (Ogot 71). Based on this colonial historiography,
Africa is a continent without history; therefore, the African people were without history as
well. Colonial and imperialist narratives of African history painted the picture of Africa as ‘the
dark continent’ with a literary example being Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (Vogel 98).
This led to remarkable and noteworthy historical processes, movements and efforts within the
continent being interpreted by imperial standards.
Based on the notion of social Darwinism and a long-standing history of imperialism,
Western European colonialists saw Africa as the next best choice for colonial expansion
following the unification of Italy and Germany in the late nineteenth century which left no
room for imperial domination in Europe (Mills 2). They were also of the belief that their wealth
and power gave them the right to claim foreign lands. What could possibly be understood as
cultural imperialism led to the assumption that colonized people were better off with European
economic systems and technology and that Europeans were racially superior. Amidst all this,
indigenous African populations lost their lands and independence, saw the replacement of their
traditional economies by capitalist systems which resulted in a loss of their trade networks and
had their cultures and traditions severely repressed while being treated as inferior, as depicted
in the poem “White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling.
For these reasons, African history became the history of Europeans in Africa, by
justifying their presence on the continent as ‘civilization mission’ that will eventually lead
2
Africa to the path of history (Robinson and Gallagher 28 ). Colonialism, however, severely
distorted the dynamics of the continent in the sense of its relation to other cultures and its
interaction with the rest of the world. It should be noted that prior to the Berlin Conference
there was European presence on the African continent, although it was largely limited to the
coastal areas (Boahen 12). Eventually, the European presence on the African continent grew
to the extent that all African countries with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia were under
colonial rule.
The reaction of indigenous African populations to such colonial subjugation has often
been de-emphasized as a result of the connection between the condition of Africa’s
historiography and its colonial history. It stands to reason that, historically, colonial resistance
across the continent would often be misconstrued as almost nonexistent mostly because the
first wave of such efforts was overall unsuccessful (Ogot 78). Basically, resistance was difficult
to attempt following colonization because of the refusal of the Europeans to respect existing
hierarchy and social systems in some places and their refusal engage in diplomacy with African
rulers. Also, the technological gap and Europe’s track record of colonial conquests made them
formidable opponents. However, the indigenous African populations remained resilient
(Msellemu 149).
Throughout the period of legitimate colonial rule and political dominance of Africa by
Europe, there remained a constant resistance whose nature was severely influenced by the
complexities and intricacies of the power and political relationships between Africans and the
colonialists. African nations continued to wage various forms of resistance – armed and against
the establishment and persistence of colonial rule – up until the end of the First World War
when European power weakened in the wake of rising African nationalism which led to
significant changes in the nature of resistance movements against colonial rule (Bankie and
Mchombu, 30). The Ashanti battles against British invaders in the late 19th century and the
3
Libyan battles against Italian invaders were symbolic towards resisting colonial rule. Following
the formal establishment of colonies, the indigenous African populations remained relentless
in their efforts towards resisting colonial administration. The Maji Maji Uprising of 1905 which
took place in south eastern Tanganyika – modern day Tanzania – saw the cooperation of local
in fighting and resisting colonialism along with the Nandi Uprising and Samouri Toure
Mandinka revolt around modern-day French West Africa (Ross 91).
The end of the First World War came with huge implications for the global political
landscape. First, the League of Nations mandate led to the loss of colonies, e.g. Germany lost
Tanganyika, which is present-day Tanzania and Namibia etc. Second, the cost of war and its
vestiges made colonies difficult to maintain in the sense that it resulted in inflation and the
collapse of global capitalist structures: these two factors and the subsequent rise of African
nationalism being the third factor largely contributed globally to the changing perspective on
colonialism in general (Bankie and Mchombu 33). By the same time, the Negritude movement
was gaining momentum in France and the Caribbean with its foremost proponents such as
Leopold Sedar Senghor, Leon Damas, Aime Cesaire, Franz Fanon, Alioune Diop etc. This
movement notably shaped the nature and quality of literature that would later emerge on the
continent (Diagne). The Second World War came with the greater implications for colonies
and their colonizers, as most of their home countries were no longer the world powers. During
this time, African colonies became largely disillusioned and revamped their anti-colonial
struggles. However, anticolonial struggles at this time were laced with nationalist sentiments
similar to the feeling that triggers the resistance and revolution in Senegalese-based God’s Bits
of Wood by Sembene Ousmane and Kenyan-based Weep Not, Child by Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
1.2 Arrangement of Chapters
This research has four main chapters and the content of each chapter is illustrated below:
Chapter 1 – Research Design: This comprises introduction to the study, background, and
4
scope of Research, Objectives, Research Rationale, Literature Review, etc.
Chapter 2 – “Do They Burn, These Bits of Wood?” is a part that covers thematic analysis of
the novel God’s Bits of Wood by Sembène Ousmane in an attempt to understand the fictional
version of the Dakar-Niger 1947 strike as a form of colonial resistance.
Chapter 3 – “And So the Child Weeps” is the part that covers the thematic analysis of Weep
Not, Child in context of the Mau Mau Rebellion as a form of colonial resistance.
Chapter 4 – “They Neither Burn nor Stop Crying” is the chapter that covers the summary of
key findings through a comparative analysis of the two previous chapters and the conclusion
1.3 Background to the Study
Literature, far from the general perception of being an end product in form of a novel,
story or poem, must be seen as a process that expresses the human experience in a broader
and deeper context. Through the representation of actions that go out of the ordinary,
literature tends to cover almost every aspect of the human experience such that it becomes
a manifestation of human society. In this light, literature becomes so profound that it is able
to break down some social barriers. For example, slave literature played a major role in the
abolition movement preceding the American Civil War. Similarly, this was also the case
with the anticolonial sentiments in former African colonies; where their efforts failed,
anticolonial leaders filled with the spirit of national self-determination took to their pens
and papers in some sort of literary resistance to fight for independence.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this research is to examine two novels – God’s Bits of Wood
by Sembene Ousmane and Weep Not, Child by Ngugi wa Thiong’o – as works of
5
postcolonial literature in context of colonial resistance by comparing the depiction of
colonial resistance in each of the novels. By doing so, this research will further assess the
? themes exploring the representation of colonial resistance and its overall implication
on the African literary tradition;
? social and economic contexts within which the novels were written and to what
extent they influence the authors’ works
1.5 Research Rationale
This research will add to the body of existing knowledge on written African literature and
serve as a material source for further research in aspects of colonial resistance.
The findings from this research will provide valuable insight on some of the factors that
prompted and sustained African resistance to colonialism and analyze its implications on the
representation of the African condition in its written literature.
This research will also help provide a broader understanding of the shared cultural heritage
between post-colonial societies.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of Study
This study is designed to examine the themes employed by two authors in providing a
portrayal of colonial resistance in their works as it shuffles between fact and fiction in its
representation. The limitation of this research is the necessity of restricting the number of
works selected for this investigation. There are many additional stories written in the
postcolonial period by and about both authors, and these might also have been included. In
order to examine the works more closely, I have elected to focus on elements within which the
resistance movement functions as either a central theme, an important backdrop or a means of
liberation.
1.7 Theoretical Framework
One of the important contributions of modern African literature to contemporary studies is
6
its veracity in representation and objective understanding of Africa’s history – colonial history
especially. A common misconception about Africa’s reaction and orientation towards its
colonialism is the idea of submissiveness therefore the continent’s condition in terms of colonial
subjection is often misconstrued as one of complete passivity. This misunderstanding brought
about the need for African stories to be told in African voices which became established and
essentially sustained under the comprehensive field of postcolonial literature.
Colonialism was a means of claiming and exploiting foreign land therefore postcolonial
literature has a range of concerns given this past. It is mainly concerned with reclaiming spaces
and places in order to reestablish the link between indigenous populations and their homelands
through narrations, descriptions etc. It is also committed to asserting the cultural integrity of
previously colonized people by restoring the richness and uniqueness of their cultures which
were systematically repressed under colonial rule. It also seeks to revisit history so as to give
historical accounts from the perspective of the colonized people. This is because colonizers had
the habit of portraying their subjects as existing outside of history
Postcolonial theory, therefore, is employed as a framework in this research for the purpose
of addressing literary efforts to revisiting, revising and retelling the history of the colonized
people. Because most colonized nations were victims of the supposed cultural, racial, religious
and moral superiority of the European colonizer, this not only justified the “civilization
mission” but it obscured the true reaction of colonized societies given European hegemony of
the colonized societies. The representation of colonial resistance in European historiography of
colonized nations ranges from almost non-existent to very minimal hence the focus of
postcolonial literature on literatures from former colonies, literatures responding to the
experience of former colonies and literatures produced by their diaspora and their roles in the
independence movement of former colonies