Social change in Ayi Kwei Armah's Literary Works

The novels under study in this work display, in my view, Armah’s perception and responses to contemporary political history. Armah’s literary world, starting from The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1968), through Fragments to The Eloquence of the Scribes, highlights the trouble with Africa, a constant preoccupation of the writer. The complexity and hugeness of Africa’s problems should not prevent us from anticipating the possibilities for Africa’s development and true liberation in the future. In this regard, ancient Egyptian civilisation (the oldest in the world), its history, politics and culture offer epistemic systems to draw inspiration from. The source of Africa’s predicaments is the dislocation by Euro-Arabian Imperialism of indigenous social formations. To address the issue, efforts should begin with a constructive engagement with the past and the setting up of a social formation that promotes collectiveness, democracy, good governance and an Africa-centered educational system for a true liberation or social change. Definitely, there will be no notable social change when we unflaggingly step into tight inappropriate alien shoes.