Land, Freedom and Fiction: History and Ideology in Kenya (African Culture Archive)

David Maughan-Brown’s authoritative work on the Mau Mau Uprising during the 1950s in Kenya, examines how the Mau Mau struggle for land and independence has been mirrored, and often distorted, in accounts by English and white Kenyan writers, as well as by indigenous Kenyan novelists. Against the turbulent background of the Mau Mau Uprising, Maughan-Brown explores the relationship between history, literary creation, and the myths that societies cultivate. Spanning the breadth of colonial and post-colonial African literature, his subjects range from the colonialist authors Robert Ruark and Elspeth Huxley, to the post-independence novels of Meja Mwangi and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. By presenting a concise account of the uprising and its place in Kenyan identity, Land, Freedom and Fiction significantly increases our understanding of settler attitudes and the role of literature within colonial ideology. Cover 1 About the Author 4 Title Page 6 Copyright 7 Contents 10 Foreword by Stephen Clingman 12 Preface and Acknowledgements 16 1. Introduction 18 Ideology 21 Literary Theory 28 2. 'Mau Mau' as a Historical Phenomenon 37 Problems of Definition 37 'Causes' of the Revolt 40 Origins and Organisation of the 'Mau Mau' and History of the Oath 47 Conduct of the Campaign: 'Mau Mau Atrocities' and State and Settler Repression 53 Social Composition of the 'Mau Mau' Movement 58 Towards a Categorical Definition of the Movement 63 Ideologies of the History of 'Mau Mau' 66 The Colonial Interpretation and 'Mau Mau' Oathing Ceremonies 66 Post-Independence Accounts: 'Mau Mau' Autobiographies and 'Progressive' and 'Reactionary' Nationalist Interpretations 73 3. Kenyan Colonial Settler Ideology 83 The Colonial Economy as a Determinant of Settler Ideology 83 Colonial Settler Ideology in its Aspect as Metropolitan Export 91 Colonial Settler Race Ideology: Myths and Stereotypes 94 Kenyan Colonial Settler Ideology as a Variant of Fascist Ideology 110 Terminology of Colonial Accounts of 'Mau Mau' 114 4. Nothing of Value: Colonial Fiction about 'Mau Mau' 123 Fiction as Propaganda and the Settler Novelists 123 The Embodiment in Fiction of Colonial Myths About 'Mau Mau' 131 Fictional Devices Used in Propounding Colonial Settler Ideology 144 The Fiction's Rendering Visible of the Ideological Structures of Colonial Fascism 153 5. 'Plus fa Change ...': Liberal Fiction from the Metropolis 174 The Effect of Settler Propaganda on the Metropolitan Image of 'Mau Mau' 174 The 'Liberal' Fiction 180 6. Economy, Politics and Ideology in Post-Independence Kenya 200 From Colonial to Neo-Colonial Economy 201 Key Components of the Dominant Ideology: 'Unity', the Kenyatta Myth, and the Rejection of 'Mau Mau' 207 7. Novels of the 'Freedom' 223 Post-Independence Fiction as Praise-Song to the 'Leader' 225 Further Resemblances to the Colonial Fiction: The Aesthetics of 'Balance' and the Politics of Contempt 235 8. Not Yet the Freedom 247 The Changing Image of 'Mau Mau' in Ngugi's Novels 247 A Grain of Wheat as the Exemplary 'Crisis Text' 264 Conclusion 275 Bibliography 283 Index 292 This now classic work examines the contrasting ways in which the Mau Mau struggle for land and independence in Kenya was mirrored, and usually distorted, by successive generations of English and white Kenyan authors, as well as by indigenous Kenyan novelists. Against the turbulent background of the Mau Mau Uprising, Dr Maughan-Brown explores the relationship between history, literary creation and the myths that societies cultivate. Spanning the breadth of colonial and post-colonial African literature, his subjects range from the colonialist authors Robert Ruark and Elspeth Huxley to the post-independence novels of Meja Mwangi and Ngugi wa Thiong'o.Maughan-Brown's book is invaluable on many levels. He presents a concise account of the uprising and its place in Kenyan identity, and significantly increases our understanding of settler attitudes and the role of literature within colonial ideology. Land, Freedom and Fiction succeeds in showing the subtle insights a materialist approach can bring to the study of literature, ideology and society. A thought-provoking exploration of the Mau Mau uprising and its place in the literature and identity of Kenya.