Magical Realism as Postcolonial Strategy in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Matigari (1986)

Abstract

Ngugi wa Thiongo is one of the most distinctive postcolonial authors who uses his literature to tackle deep postcolonial political issues. In this perspective, The current study conducts a descriptive analytical analysis to investigate the use of magical realism as a postcolonial strategy in Matigari (1986). Correspondingly, three hypotheses are formulated to reach out the research objectives; the first hypothesis suggests that the writer uses magical realism through the incorporation of the imaginary characters and events into the real historical settings. The second one; the post-colonial realities lying behind the use of magical realism represent the miserable condition in which the powerless Kenyan people live during the colonial and neo-colonial ruling. The third hypothesis; however, proposes that the motifs behind the use of magical realism as a postcolonial device hold revolutionary incitation, restoration of the ancestor's culture and identity. In order to investigate the validity of our hypotheses, we selected the corpora subject to this study from the previously mentioned novel, using the magical realism techniques and postcolonial theory. Accordingly, the study reveals that Wa Thiong'o uses magical realism technique to mirror the miserable reality of oppressed people and to stir those people to revolt against the oppressing neocolonial powers.