Identity Crisis, Ambivalence and Otherness in Ngũgĩ’s Novel Devil on the Cross
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64137/31078729/IJLLH-V2I2P106Keywords:
Identity Crisis, Ambivalence, Otherness, Colonialism, Post-Colonial, NeocolonialismAbstract
The main objective of this study is to examine how identity crisis, ambiguity, and otherness are reflected in Ngugi wa Thiongo’s novel Devil on the Cross. The analysis of the study shows that identity crisis is one of the main points depicted in the novel. Moreover, the novel revealed that due to colonial education and experience, the indigenous intellectuals found themselves in an ambivalent position. Some characters of the novel are placed in contradictory positions as they seek to find out the lost indigenous culture, but they fail to properly speak their own Gikuyu language while they are perfect in English. Furthermore, the middle-class Kenyans see themselves and their people as inferior other than the Westerners. This is because the neo-colonizers strengthen the idea that the West is civilized and a source of knowledge while inviting Kenyans to get knowledge from the Western experience.
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