Transitivity and Narrative Viewpoint in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not, Child

Abstract

The linguistic study of African literary texts has become a fertile ground for researchers in both Applied Linguistics and Literary Studies. This study applies transitivity in analysing the narrative style adopted in a key passage in Ngugi’s Weep Not, Child. The study reveals that the transitivity patterns in which the happenings, actions and inactions of characters are inscribed function to determine the psychological viewpoint from which the narrator relates the story. Specifically, it argues that the writer tends to absolve victimisers from the responsibility for their actions in order to focus readers’ attention on the victims of the political conflict presented in the novel. This stylistic strategy foregrounds the universal theme of suffering in the novel. The study has implications for explorations on the interface between language and literature and further research