Jose Maria Arguedas, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the Search for a Language of Justice

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1992

Publisher

Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association/Penn State University Press

Abstract

Ours is an age in which post- and neo-colonial peoples seek a voice flnd a language-a voice that will be listened to by historically dominant nations, and a language with which they themselves can identify. In such an age a ''logocentric'' theology like Christianity takes a special interest in the self-expressive nature of the ongoing local struggles for a forum. Many of the prominent writers attended religious schools and, for better or for worse, have been shaped by that experience. With a lacerating irony, the struggle for justice among peoples upon whom the Gospel was sometimes cruelly imposed draws its strength from the Bible's example of Yahweh's enduring righteousness, the prophets' call to fidelity, and the significance of the individual in the eyes of God.

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