Felix Mnthali
After reading The Stranglehold of English Lit. I was almost partially amused by the reaction Felix gave towards Jane Austen, it was almost as though he blamed her for everything. Aside from being amused, I could understand why Felix wrote this poem and the view he had while writing it. In many cultures, the English influence upon writing and reading option is always present making it hard for the pure original culture of text and language to survive. I also like how he through little words basically stated that life is not all about being happy and finding a rich person to marry, but yet he implied that the root of African culture was more complex and full of emotion.
Aside from British affects on African culture, I personally think that The Stranglehold of English Lit. and The Gentlemen of the Jungle can almost go hand in hand with each other. Both are dealing with an British influence that is trying to manipulate the African culture and society into a similar to British kind of society. Through the views and points made through both writers, Felix’s style of writing I personally think was persuasive but not like Jomo Kenyatta. Jomo basically has the view that in the end achieving peace would be to kill those who are changing the surroundings and treating the people unfairly.
Overall I enjoyed reading both The Stranglehold of English Lit. and The Gentlemen of the Jungle. I expected the African view of the British to be exactly how it was presented through both writings, personally I agree with both writers especially Kenyatta. I would recommend anyone to read both of these writings, both are enjoyable and easy to follow.
I agree that Mnthali's choice of Austen if funny. I think he probably meant it to be ironic. She is so sweet even when she is making fun of the injustice of class prejudices. The three Bronte sisters were much more cynical: they come off like leather jacketed punks compared to Austen. So I do think that Mntali was being funny, in a very dark way of course, when he picked Jane Austen as the poster child for imperialist oppression. I like how you cover all the questions that we have for guiding the reader response, but I wonder if you can go into a little more detail. For example, when you say, "I would recommend anyone read both of these writings because they are enjoyable and easy to follow." This seems, well, sort of Jane Austeny. Could you be more specific about what is "enjoyable" about these writings, or what makes them easy to follow?
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