Abstract

This paper presents a critical review of the major thematic concerns in East African Literature 50 years after independence. It examines the relevance of East African literature in responding to the needs of the society which is critical to any genre of literature. This is predicated on the fact that literature is basically a reflection of social realities in any given society. This paper employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) its examination of the way East African playwrights use language to comment on a number of problems bedeviling post independent states. The paper mainly focuses on a review of thematic concerns in major plays by some of the leading playwrights in East Africa since independence. Given that literature is a reflection of the society, it has emerged that many East African writers have been deeply preoccupied with the issues bedeviling the society such as the clash between tradition and modernity, neocolonialism, politics of independence, education as well as social problems such as corruption, economic disparities in post colonial East Africa, and the rights and roles of women in the society.