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Work #842 · Late

Decolonising the Mind

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
1986 (based on 1984 Robb Lectures) · English
Lectures in cultural-political criticism · Late-twentieth-century anglophone African literature / postcolonial theory

Ngũgĩ's 1986 manifesto — "Decolonising the Mind" — language and the African writer

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Decolonising the Mind (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Constructed
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Decolonising the Mind

The long historical time of African colonization and decolonization.

Space

Decolonising the Mind

The African continent and its diaspora.

Matter

Decolonising the Mind

The body of the African child learning a foreign language.

Observer

Decolonising the Mind

The African writer reclaiming African languages.

Energy

Decolonising the Mind

Energies of linguistic-cultural decolonization.

Information

Decolonising the Mind

African-language literature as decolonized information.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Decolonising the Mind

Ngũgĩ's Decolonising the Mind: foundational for postcolonial theory; the closing reference of the Atlas — a project of writing still in process.