PORTRAYAL OF POVERTY AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN ERICK NGODA’S YOUNG ADULT NOVEL A NAME FOR HIMSELF

Abstract

Literature serves as an important mirror to the socio-economic conditions in society and provides an important instrument by which the conditions of poverty and associated social inequality can be studied. This paper examines the literary portrayal of poverty and social inequality in A Name for Himself (2013), an important work in the canon of Kenyan youth literature by Erick Ngoda, who won the Burt Award for this book. This study uses a qualitative close reading approach and is underpinned by a threefold theory framework encompassing Reader Response Theory (Rosenblatt, 1978; Fish, 1980), Poverty Theory (Townsend, 1979; Sen, 1999) and Postcolonial Theory (Fanon, 1963; Bhabha, 1994). This paper analyzes how Ngoda uses the various literary techniques of symbolism, imagery, irony, characterization and narrative voice to depict poverty in the lives of the characters. The results indicate that poverty in the text is a phenomenon that is experienced in different dimensions: poverty in material resources, education, health care, technology, gender, and crime. The author highlights that poverty restricts one’s freedom and is responsible for the continuation of poverty across generations. It can be concluded that A Name for Himself is a major contribution to African literary criticism and poverty discourse because of its ability to counter the dominant discourse.