The Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s third novel A Grain of Wheat was first published in 1967, four years after his country’s independence. A revised version with significant changes was published in 1986; by this date, Ngũgĩ had spent almost a year in detention in Kenya (in 1978) and had gone into political exile (in 1982). A Grain of Wheat is a transitional novel in Ngũgĩ’s work for a number of reasons. Firstly, the novel portrays a society in transition from anti-colonial resistance to the formation of an embryonic national society. Secondly, the novel follows on from Ngũgĩ’s two previous novels, Weep Not, Child (1964) and The River Between (1965) in combining individual psychological …
2435 words
Citation: Dodgson-Katiyo, Pauline. "A Grain of Wheat". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 October 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=29146, accessed 23 November 2024.]
