Mukhuba, TheoSeleka, Moagisi Edwin Kagiso2021-08-232021-08-232015http://hdl.handle.net/10394/37173PhD (English), North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2015The recent upsurge of socio-political activism driven by the youth in North Africa and numerous other states in the Arab World, as well as the abundance of evidence of youth activism in the amelioration of socio-political and economic spheres of South Africa, necessitate an investigation of the manner in which revolutionary thinkers in Africa represent and project youth activism in their literary works. The genre used for this investigation is fiction and story-telling which is one of the oldest tools of social engineering and re-invention among the Africans. In order to investigate the phenomenon above, we have selected seven novels by Africa's acclaimed fiction writer of East African descent, Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Ngugi henceforth) whose works have generated many critical works. He has been internationally acclaimed as a socialist writer whose quest for social justice is unquenchable. His presentation of women has been critiqued with appreciation. However, most of his readers and admirers have subconsciously omitted and overlooked the overabundance of young characters in his works. Not only are they oblivious of the above, but they have also missed out on the trust and confidence that Ngugi invests in the youth as a sociopolitical force. In the light of this oversight, this study fills a discernible gap and attempts to raise awareness on the positive contribution the youth make towards socio-political change in their societies as mirrored in Ngugi's artistic works. Additionally, it also exposes the dehumanizing milieu imposed by both colonialism and nee-colonialism on the youth and how, in spite of these, the youth remain not only his protagonists, but a force in the socio-political evolution of their societies. The material for this study was derived from Ngugi's seven novels beginning with Weep Not Child (1964) to Wizard of the Crow (2008). Analysis of the texts follows an approach which, in addition to Critical Discourse Analysis, also borrows extensively from a myriad of the postcolonial readings that are grounded in conflict theory and sociological meanings. This study contributes not only to a change of perception about the youth, but to a re-evaluation of the contribution literature and the arts in general make towards sociopolitical and economic development in Africa and the world. The need for this study is further derived from the observation that many people in the black world testify to and would easily remember the contributions of Martin Luther King Jnr, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks during late 1950's and the 1960's in the struggle against racism in the United States of America. However, very few of us will confess knowledge of Melba Patillo Beals who after just turning sixteen had to champion the racial integration of Little Rock Central High in The United States of America.This had its own ramifications; a price had to be paid as she also had to endure the anger of the intransigent white racists who still believed in racial segregation.In the light of these gabs and omisions, studies on how the youth are represented in literary texts becomes important.enThesis