The nation in devastation: Political, ideological and economic issues in M. J. Mngadi's Novels

African-language literatures are generally perceived to be devoid of political and economic commitment. They are particularly famous for dwelling more on social issues and paying less attention to political issues of their times. What informs this contention is largely these literatures' association with the school market and their address to the ordinary people. This chapter intends to dispel this myth and demonstrate that African-language literatures do address social, political, economic and ideological issues, with specific reference to M. J. Mngadi's selected novels. However, as Maake (2000) once observed, being political does not necessarily translate into good literature. This chapter discusses a rare combination of thematic issues, namely political, economic and ideological issues in the context of literary studies. The researcher finds, among other things, that these issues permeate the novels of M. J. Mngadi, enhancing their depth and raising their standards.