Communal Matrix to Urban Alienation: Spatial Dislocation and Pathology in Meja Mwangi’s Kill Me Quick

Extant postcolonial literatures underscore the adverse effects of cross-border migrations on the ontological security of migrant characters. The othering experiences that these characters undergo have a detrimental effect on their psyches. However, a gap exists in the analysis of the psychological effects of migration within the borders. The present study examines the pathological effect of rural-urban migration with reference to Meja Mwangi’s Kill Me Quick. Utilising tenets of postcolonial theory, the study posits that migrant characters within and without nations experience similar psychological challenges. Fanon’s concept of othering and psychopathy and Kristeva’s the jettisoned mother will form the basis of interpretation. This study employed a narrative qualitative design in which data were gathered by content analysis from the primary and secondary texts. It was found that internal migration mirrors cross-border migration in the establishment of postcolonial situations with attendant pathological effects on characters.