The Decolonial Literature of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, by Abdirashid Diriye Kalmoy – 12 July 2025

From The Elephant

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, one of the most prominent writers and philosophers in Africa and globally, passed away on 28 May 2025. Ngũgĩ’s literary works and political ideas have effectively questioned and critiqued the political and cultural effects and the legacies of colonialism in Africa. His switch from writing in English to his native Gĩkũyũ represents a larger intellectual turn toward decolonial thought that Ngugi advocated for. Ngũgĩ has consistently explored colonial authority, postcolonial treachery, and the potential for cultural revitalisation through African languages and indigenous epistemologies in his plays, essays, and novels. In addition to criticising the aftereffects of colonialism, his decolonial writings also offer ideas for real emancipation.

The emphasis on the importance of language is at the core of Ngũgĩ’s decolonial writing. He makes a compelling case for the connection between language and power in his landmark work Decolonizing the Mind (1986). Ngũgĩ asserts that colonialism involved more than just gaining political power; it also involved conquering the colonised people’s minds and modes of thinking. In this way, language becomes a means of internalising colonial ideals. According to Ngũgĩ, African children were estranged and alienated from their cultures, histories, and identities when European languages were forced into African classrooms. He established a profound break with the colonial legacy and adopted a decolonial praxis based on linguistic self-determination by choosing Gĩkũyũ over English as the medium for his creative work.

[READ THE REST]

Abdirashid Diriye Kalmoy is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul. His work has been featured in Daily Sabah, The Elephant, Africa Is a Country, and Modern Diplomacy. He is the author of the forthcoming book Hopes in Transition: An Ethnography of African Migrants in Istanbul (Ibn Haldun University Press).

Except where noted otherwise, original writing and translations produced by the Left Renewal Blog Collective are published under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Republished and translated material remains subject to the licence and terms of its original publication.