60 pages 2 hours read

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

The River Between

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1965

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Background

Authorial Context: Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a prominent Kenyan writer and academic known for using his literary works to explore the effects of colonialism on African society and culture. Born in Limuru to a large Agikuyu family in 1938, Ngugi followed his mother’s urging and enrolled in a renowned boarding school at the age of 17. During this time, he wrote pieces lauding Christianity and the British education system, but his early literary works were still critical of the authoritarian control and violence of colonialism, and his early youth was characterized by hardship due to British colonial rule. Ngugi began his literary career by writing novels in English under his birth name of James Ngugi; later, he chose to write in his native Gikuyu, using the name Ngugi wa Thiong’o (which means “Ngugi, son of Thiong’o”). This shift was prompted by his one-year stint in a Kenyan federal prison: punishment for co-writing a play in Gikuyu. After fleeing Kenya, he eventually settled in Irvine, California and has taught at several prestigious American universities. Now, he is translating his early works from English into Gikuyu.

Many African authors write in English in part because it is considered the official

blurred text

blurred text

Related Titles

By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Study Guide

logo

A Grain of Wheat

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

A Grain of Wheat

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Plot Summary

logo

A Meeting In The Dark

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

A Meeting In The Dark

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Study Guide

logo

Decolonising the Mind

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Study Guide

logo

Devil on the Cross

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Devil on the Cross

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Study Guide

logo

Dreams in a Time of War

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Dreams in a Time of War

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Plot Summary

logo

I Will Marry When I Want

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

I Will Marry When I Want

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Plot Summary

logo

Matigari

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Matigari

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Study Guide

logo

Petals of Blood

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Petals of Blood

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Plot Summary

logo

Weep Not, Child

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Weep Not, Child

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Plot Summary

logo

Wizard of the Crow

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Wizard of the Crow

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o