Religious resistance in Kenya: The Gikuyu Independent Churches in A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

                                                     Christophe Sékène Diouf

Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis, Senegal

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of missionaries’ opposition to African cultures which led to the creation of Independent Churches. It mainly focuses on Kenyan colonial history. These facts are incorporated in Ngugi’s novel: A Grain of Wheat. In this literary work, The Independent Churches reflect the difficulties that the autochthones are confronted with while deciding to conciliate two different cultures. These Churches express a religious resistance. During colonization, the guardians of the traditions who discovered the new religion, Christianity, faced the missionaries’ Churches by setting up Independent Churches. This article takes into consideration many aspects related to people’s realities especially in the religious domain. Thus, the contribution of this study is to lay the stress on the role that the Independent Churches played in the empowerment of African cultures. This work also underscores the cultural effects such as religious syncretism stemming from the mixture between Christian elements and African traditions.  

Key words: cultures, Independent Churches, Gikuyu, liberation, religious syncretism.