Something Torn and New
An African Renaissance
Basic Books · Print & ebook · February 24, 2009
Novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been a force in African literature for decades: Since the 1970s, when he gave up the English language to commit himself to writing in African languages, his foremost concern has been the critical importance of language to culture.
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- Who it’s for
- A thoughtful, bookish look at Africa’s literary and historical questions, with scope and texture.
- Genres
- African Studies, Colonialism & Its Aftermath, African Lit Crit
- Published
- Basic Books, February 24, 2009
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: African Studies.
There Was a CountryChinua Achebe51% match
In the House of the InterpreterNgugi wa Thiong'o67% matchAlso shares Colonialism & Its Aftermath
How to Write About AfricaBinyavanga Wainaina, Achal Prabhala60% match
The Gifts of AfricaJeff Pearce57% match
Africa Is Not a CountryDipo Faloyin56% matchAlso shares Colonialism & Its Aftermath
For younger readers: I Am the Mau and Other Stories, A Pride of African Tales, Forest of the Pygmies
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been a force in African literature for decades: Since the 1970s, when he gave up the English language to commit himself to writing in African languages, his foremost concern has been the critical importance of language to culture. In Something Torn and New, Ngugi explores Africa's historical, economic, and cultural fragmentation by slavery, colonialism, and globalization.
Continue reading
Throughout this tragic history, a constant and irrepressible force was Europhonism: the replacement of native names, languages, and identities with European ones. The result was the dismemberment of African memory. Seeking to remember language in order to revitalize it, Ngugi's quest is for wholeness. Wide-ranging, erudite, and hopeful, Something Torn and New is a cri de coeur to save Africa's cultural future.
Cultural Lens
A thoughtful, bookish look at Africa’s literary and historical questions, with scope and texture.
Come here for
- cultural context with range
- layered critical voice
Expect
- specialist, layered arguments
- sustained narrative read
Where it sits
| Colonialism & Its Aftermath | 53% |
|---|---|
| African Studies | 51% |
| African Lit Crit | 46% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- African Lit Crit
- African American Studies
- Global Black Studies
- Authors
- Ngugi Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
- Publisher
- Basic Books
- Published
- February 24, 2009
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- African Lit Crit