英语论文哪里有？笔者认为恩古吉的自传书写在后殖民语境之下具有重要意义。有利于解构白人殖民者书写的刻板和歪曲的历史，让肯尼亚人民重新了解自己国家和族群历史的本来面貌，对形成共同的身份认同，提高肯尼亚人民的国家和族群凝聚力具有重要意义。
Chapter One History of Personal Education: Construction of Individual Identity
1.1 The Writing of Personal History
The three autobiographies are based on “I”, who struggled to complete primary, secondary and tertiary education in the midst of the war, to show personal growth and education, and this gruelling personal history of schooling is a metaphor for the complex and tumultuous history of education in colonized Kenya. Ngugi uses the dual narrative voices of childhood and adulthood to tell the story of his arduous schooling, creating an interaction between “the writing subject and the historical subject” (Yang, 2009:167). The difficult history of schooling told in the dual narrative voices of childhood and adulthood actually reflects Ngugi’s reflection on his personal educational experience and Kenyan education and the relationship between the two. Ngugi tries to face up to the dilemma of individual identity that he faced in the process of education, and hopes that in writing his personal history, he can also make a breakthrough and reconstruct his own individual identity.
Chapter Two History of Family and Ethnic Group Survival: Construction of Community Identity
2.1 The Writing of Family and Ethnic History
In Ngugi’s autobiography, the family and ethnic history portrayed is a challenging narrative of continuous dispersal and escape. Under the terror politics of colonial rule, the Gikuyu people were ruthlessly expelled and suppressed by the colonizers, leading to the disintegration of countless Gikuyu families and their scattering in exile. Additionally, Ngugi not only provides an authentic representation of the Gikuyu family and ethnic survival history but also engages in a process of reshaping it. By depicting the Gikuyu family life and community existence, Ngugi showcases the positive familial bonds within the Gikuyu family and the genuine emotions of unity, mutual assistance, and friendship within the community. This serves as a subversion of the imperialistic demonization of the Gikuyu people as savages and African black individuals as devoid of humanity. Such a historical writing style reflects the author's endeavor to reconstruct family and ethnic history and the simultaneous effort to find his own community identity within the constructed historical space.
Chapter Three History of National Struggle: Construction of National Identity
3.1 The Writing of National History
The history of the Kenyan nation as written by Ngugi is a history of the national struggle for independence and freedom, however, the history of the national struggle as written by Ngugi is different from the large-scale historiography as studied by historians, it is more individual, contingent, and to some extent even presents historical legends and anecdotes with fictional overtones. Among the many anti-colonial struggles in Kenya, Ngugi focuses mainly on the Mau Mau Uprising, which has had the greatest impact on Kenya. He reflects a more realistic and concrete history of the Mau Mau Uprising by writing about the anti-colonial struggles of his brother, “Good Wallace”. In addition, Ngugi tells the story of the legendary Kenyan anti-colonial heroes through a unique storyteller’s narrative. This kind of history is the “history of the anecdote” (Fineman, 2013: 64) which can be seen as a deconstructive writing of the official history written by white men. Such a writing style also reflects Ngugi’s attempt to reconstruct the history of the Kenyan nation and to expose the truth of history. At the same time, Ngugi seeks to reconstruct his own national identity through the constructed space of national history.
3.2 National Identity Dilemma of “I” in Kenya’s Struggle for Independence
In the history of Kenya’s national struggle, “I” also found myself entangled in a dilemma regarding national identity. The establishment of a modern national identity in Kenya was influenced by both colonialism and African tribalism. Under colonial rule, “I” experienced the benefits of education and culture brought by the colonial masters while simultaneously aspiring for Kenya’s national liberation and independence. This created a dilemma: should “I” choose to continue serving as a subject of the colonial government, or strive for national independence, thus constructing my own Kenyan national identity? Additionally, Kenya, being a tribal nation in Africa, had ethnic communities established politically before the concept of a national political organization. “Ethnic (tribal) ties are the most fundamental political ties” (Gross, 1998: 145). Consequently, Kenyan people often had a stronger sense of identity with their ethnic groups than with the nation itself. Under the influence of these ethnic identities, “I” had a relatively weak sense of national identity.
Conclusion
The three autobiographical works written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o are distinct yet interconnected memoirs that span different periods, contents, and themes of the author’s life. This thesis primarily employs the research methods of autobiography theory and postcolonial theory to analyze the unique historical writing presented by the author through his autobiographies and to uncover the true intentions behind his historical writings. Additionally, it uses the author’s historical writings as a foundation to further delve into the complexities of identity and the process of identity construction portrayed within his historical narratives.
The research indicates that Ngugi’s historical writing in his autobiographical trilogy is subversive, deconstructive. This form of history reveals a triple dimension encompassing personal history, family and ethnic history, and national history. Firstly, the author employs a dual narrative voice of childhood and adulthood to narrate a personal and tumultuous educational journey that reflects the evolution of Kenyan education. Secondly, Ngugi depicts how colonial rule led to the dispersal of communities and the disintegration of families, portraying the challenging survival of families and communities during the process of exile and dispersion. He writes about a different narrative—one of unity, camaraderie, and harmony within black families and the cohesive spirit of the Gikuyu community. This narrative serves to subvert the stereotypical impressions of African families and communities as violent, savage, and ignorant. Lastly, the author broadens his perspective to encompass national history. He does so by exploring the anti-colonial struggles of his elder brother, Wallace, and the histories recounted by Ngandi, which provide insights into the Mau Mau Uprising and other resistance movements in Kenya’s history.
reference(omitted)
