Albinism as a Literary Trope in Goro Kamau’s Ghosts and Fortune Hunters

Abstract

Debates on the centrality of literature to the modern man have been steadily gaining momentum in literary circles. Writers have also been accused of their disinterest stance in issues that hound the 21st century society. This paper examines albinism as both a literary motif of exposing and indicting other myriad problems affecting modern society and a symbol of resistance in Goro Kamau’s Ghost and Fortune Hunters. The paper argues that since Kamau gives the narrative of albinos’ predicament, he opens other layers of social, political and economic issues affecting the ordinary person in the society, most of which are a product of modernity. The problems range from poverty, corruption, crime, abuse of the law, only to mention a few. Indirectly, the author indicts modern society for marginalising the albinos simply because of their skin colour. By critiquing modern society, the author becomes a conscious examiner of his community. This argument is primarily located within the ideological lenses of postcolonial theory and supplemented by the reader-response theory. Using these theories, this paper examined albinism as a trope for highlighting and condemning issues like poverty, corruption, crime, and abuse of law. The paper obtained its primary data for analysis and presentation from a close reading of the selected text. This study will immensely contribute to literary criticism of children and adult literature as well as literature, politics, and social justice, among other related disciplines. Keywords: Albinism, fortune, ghosts, hunters, marginalisation, unmasking