Ideological Orientation of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood

Abstract

The use of ‘ideology’ in the world of literature was only an art form limited to Marxism only. However, through the course of time we have extended the meaning and what it holds. Based on the context, by ideology we mean a set of beliefs that beliefs and values that an individual or a group holds purely related to their epistemological views. With ideology it is possible to unify the complex thoughts and processes which one carry for their society in order to form a community. First published in 1977, Nguigi Wa Thiong’o’s novel Petals of Blood took a toll on the government for which he was detained and arrested for crimes related to his “literary political” background. Understandably the novel involved various matters into one text which primarily shows us the situation of the then Kenya after the independence from the British Empire. In this paper I would like to discuss in details about the novel through relating it to various philosophies such as Fanonian Marxism on post colonialism, class discrimination etc. I will further add references from Homi K Bhaba and Hegel. It is also important to look into the culture, language and religious aspects through which we will look into Africa and the Kenyan society. We will look into the characters and relate the post-colonial values they hold as metaphorical individuals to the novel. It is crucial to see the abrogation and appropriation of the novel through these theories in order to discourse the ideologies that the author has accordingly. It is important to analyse the various elements of post colonialism and African culture in order to justify the ideology that the author holds in writing just a revolutionary piece of art which still holds so much significance and is very much relatable to this day.