The mirror and the hammer: realism and revolution in the novels of Ngungi wa Thiong'o

The following study examines the development of "realism" in the novels of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, tracing the evolution of their thematic concerns and formal devices. This evolution is directly related to changes in the historical conditions which have shaped the production and consumption of Ngugi's writing. A shift from the 'critical' realism of his early career to the 'political'' realism of his most recent novels is both the cause and effect of Ngugi's epistemological break with an aesthetic problematic and his subsequent embracing of the political problematic. The following essay illustrates the transformation of this realism in Ngugi's novels from a mirror of reality into the hammer of revolution.