ULAB hosts symposium on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: Language, Identity, and Liberation

The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) hosted a national symposium titled "La Luta Literária: Ngũgĩ and the Battle for Language and Liberation" on Thursday, July 31, 2025. 

The event, organised by the Department of English and Humanities of ULAB, brought together academics, public intellectuals, and student and faculty researchers to engage with the literary and political contributions of Kenyan writer and scholar Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who passed away recently, with a focus on the themes of language, identity, and liberation in postcolonial contexts.

The keynote speech, "Personal Encounters with Ngũgĩ: Emancipatory Theory, Creative Imagination, and Conversations That Transformed Me," was delivered by Prof. Azfar Hussain, Summer Distinguished Professor at ULAB and Director, Graduate Program in Social Innovation, Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA. 

Two featured speakers,  Nurul Kabir, Chief Editor of New Age, and Prof. Mahmud Hasan Khan, ULAB, spoke on "The Colonial Politics of Language, Education, and Historiography: Ngũgĩ's Thoughts and Decolonizing the 'Postcolonial' Countries" and "'Language' and 'Being': The Relevance of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Heidegger in Ethnomethodology" respectively. 

Two panels, discussing Ngũgĩ from literary and linguistic perspectives, were held. Discussants included Prof. Khaliquzzaman Elias, Prof. Firdous Azim, Prof. Shamsad Mortuza, Dr. Sarker Hasan Al Zayed, Dr. Abdullah Al Mahmud, Prof. Asifa Sultana, Dr. Mohammad Shamsuzzaman, and Dr. Rafi Saleh.