A stylistic approach to Meja Mwangi's novel "Going down River Road"

Abstract

Meja Mwangi’s novel Going Down River Road has not got the merit it deserves. Most critics approach it negatively. They emphasize the fact that it is weak, pessimistic, and does not offer solutions to the deplorable economic and social situation of the neo-colonial period in Kenya he tackles. However almost no one has approached it stylistically to explore its artistic features. And this is what I am trying to do in this study.

Let’s first stress the fact that the novel is not an essay or an article. It is not required to propose solutions to problems though most African novelists do so. We should not deny its powerful construction thanks to its style and language. Its force stems from its true to life characters, setting and diction, besides its distinguished depictive language. Its styles reflect the real type of life people in the poorest areas of Nairobi lead and this is creative writing. To reach this, Maja Mwangi deployed all figurative language devices and tools such as metaphor, simile, degeneration, personification, synecdoche, euphemism, comparison, irony, along with the use of the cinematic techniques. His use of imagery, on the other hand, has enriched and of course given the book the value it deserves as a piece of art.

Going Down River Road was first published in 1976 after Meja Mwangi had published three strong novels, namely Kill me quick, (1973), Carcase for Hounds (1974), Taste of Death (1975) but Kill Me Quick got Jomo Kenyatta Prize in 1974.and this novel, owns the same strength and worth which made it deserve the same prize in 1977. Going Down River Road is using quality literary devices and this renders it particularly very popular to the extent that it is recommended for tourists who want to visit Neirobi.

Meja Mwangi’s book is not a simple report on the conditions in Nairobi. It is rather a living thing which makes the reader absorbed by the marvels of the detailed descriptions which stimulate all the five senses; besides the funny characters that add a lot to the refinement of the artistic skills the writer obviously worked on meticulously.

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