Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

In this 1986 essay collection, Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o argues that colonial powers used language as a "cultural bomb," imposing European tongues while suppressing indigenous African ones, producing psychological alienation and eroding cultural continuity. Blending autobiography, theory and literary criticism across four essays on African literature, theatre and fiction, Ngũgĩ makes the case for African writers to reclaim their own languages as an act of resistance — a book that became foundational to post-colonial studies.