Narrating Dystopia in Modern Kenya: Philo Ikonya’s Leading the Night and Ngumi Kibera’s Beyond the Darkness

Abstract

This dissertation examines narrative representations of dystopia in Philo Ikonya’s Leading the Night and Ngumi Kibera’s Beyond the Darkness. The study pays close attention to how the two literary artists address the challenges encountered by marginalized postcolonial urban subjects. The study argues that the marginalized subjects engage in subversive practices with the hope to challenge the forces of marginalization. Further, the study explores how the characters engage in actions that provide fleeting moments of happiness and illusion of freedom as a means to achieving livable lives. I argue that while Ikonya’s novel envisions subversion as the only means of achieving livable lives; Kibera’s suggests that it is possible to transcend the social, economic and political marginalization if only the characters engage in legitimate and sanctionable practices.