Title: The Imprisoned Ironist: A Study of Irony in Devil on the Cross

Abstract: Devil on the Cross is a novel written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o in the prison. The novel does not continue to retell the history as Ngũgĩ’s previous novels do. It takes independent Kenya as its historical background and irony as its main technique to show the seemingly absurd but actually real Kenyan society. By using irony, Ngũgĩ combines truth and falsehood, justice and evil, light and darkness into this novel, fully demonstrating his ironic spirit of questioning and fighting. This novel is the witness of his challenging authority, criticizing reality and speaking out for the future of the nation. It is also an important milestone in the development of Kenyan English literature.

Keywords: irony, Devil on the Cross, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Author: Chunyi Lu, School of Humanities, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China; Dehe Feng, Associate Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Shandong Youth University of Political Science, Jinan, Shandong, China.