Penpoints, Gunpoints, and Dreams
Towards a Critical Theory of the Arts and the State in Africa
ISBN13: 9780198183907ISBN10: 0198183909
Hardback,
160 pages
Apr 1998,
In Stock
Price:
$85.00 (06)See more from the series
Description
Penpoints, Gunpoints, and Dreams explores the relationship between art and political power in society, taking as its starting point the experience of writers in contemporary Africa, where they are often seen as the enemy of the postcolonial state. This study raises the wider issues of the relationship between the state of art and the art of the state, particularly in their struggle for the control of performance space in territorial, temporal, social, and even psychic contexts. Kenyan writer, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, calls for the alliance of art and people power, freedom and dignity against the encroachments of modern states. Art, he argues, needs to be active, engaged, insistent on being what it has always been, the embodiment of dreams for a truly human world.About the Author(s)
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, an acclaimed novelist, playwright, and critic, is Professor of Comparative Literature and Performance Studies at New York University.
