Research

African writers have been evaluating the use of colonial languages in African literature since our nations gained independence. Some, like Kenyan Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o believe African literature should be written in local tongues to avoid spreading the colonial mentality while Nigerian Chinua Achebe urges that colonial languages build unity and generate a bigger audience and should be used as a result. My thesis explores these two perspectives and applies them to the Ugandan literary sphere. It analyzes Okot p’Bitek’s 1966 poem “Song of Lawino” and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s 2010 novel Kintu to argue that there is value in negotiating a space between these two polar views on the language in which African literature should be written in.