The decision by “rebellious” African writers like Ngugi wa Thiong'o to divorce themselves completely—in action, word and deed—from all that is Western in orientation sparks a debate as to whether “moderate” writers like the late Chinua Achebe can be categorised as apologists or pragmatists.

It is this faithfulness to the African tongue that sets Ngugi apart from his bourgeois peers like Wole Soyinka.