COMMODIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND MORALITY IN NGŨGĨ WA THIONG’O’S PETALS OF BLOOD

Abstract

This study probes into the vicious intersection of neocolonialism, epistemological mistreatment and ethical decay in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s novel, Petals of Blood (1977). Set against the fast transforming setting of the oppressed rustic village of Ilmorog, the narrative relates how the local peasantry is methodically dispossessed by post-independence Kenyan state amid global corporate interests. This critique opines that the evolving national elites, in connivance with global capital, rationalises deprivation, effecting wide-spread violent mistreatment by means of land grabbing, physical hostility and blood-letting. The paper views the height of this vicious trend as the commodification of traditional knowledge systems and the undermining of communal morality. Engaging the analysis with a Marxist-materialist framework, the study reveals how natural cultural practices like the native brewing and perceptive properties of the theng’eta plant, is emptied of its sacred importance, hence, engaging in mass production for corporate proceeds. The reading probes into formal, Eurocentric educational systems as a tool to isolate the subaltern, while diminishing intimate relations and ethical veracity for utilitarian deals in an ever-growing capitalist system. Findings confirm the dawn of extreme disillusionment among major characters like Karega, Wanja, Munira and Abdulla, whose nightmares are traceable to this far-reaching vicious commodification. The neo-colonial machinery simply generates pervasive sorrow and isolation, having diminished human life and legacy to mere economic worth. For Ngũgĩ, therefore, genuine emancipation demands the conscious discarding of predatory economic foundation, a feat only attainable through shared, revolutionary class awareness and efforts.