Abstract

This article examines how cultural identity is portrayed and challenged in The Black Hermit (1962) by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and I Will Marry When I Want (1982), co-authored with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii. It argues that the plays critique Western modernity as a continuation of colonial influence that undermines Kenyan national identity and disrupts traditional communal structures. Through Black existential and postcolonial lenses, the study explores how modernization, as depicted in the selected plays, alienates individuals from their communities and selves, promoting a Westernized, individualistic ethos that clashes with African communal values. This tension reflects a deeper cultural crisis in postcolonial Kenyan society, where characters struggle to reconcile imposed modernity with indigenous identity. Ultimately, the article contends that modernity operates as a hegemonic discourse, presenting itself as progressive while erasing authentic modes of self-definition and collective belonging. In response, the article explores how Black humanistic discourse mediates between the individualistic and the collective and between the competing forces of modernity and tradition.