Postcolonial Trauma And The Reconstruction Of National Identity In Leonard Kibera’s The Spider’s Web
Auteurs : Ferr Bochra .
Résumé
Leonard Kibera’s short story The Spider’s Web introduces the reader to a complex web of neocolonial issues and practices that haunt Ngotho as he tries to reconstruct his pre-colonial Kenyan identity. Ngotho’s deep hatred of the African masters, for whom he works as a servant in postcolonial Kenya, leads him to question his status and, thus, wishes to re-establish the buried identity of his people. However, Kibera’s recounting of the protagonist’s struggles in the form of nightmares leaves the end of the story unresolved, and Ngotho’s passive resistance unattended. Through postcolonial trauma theory, the present paper uncovers the impossibility of rebuilding a national identity in Kibera’s narrative, arguing that Ngotho’s endless traumatization confines his reconstructionist hopes to a web of continuous oppression and dehumanization.
Mots clés
postcolonial trauma ; identity ; neo-colonialism ; nationalism ; Leonard Kibera
