RP-Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology

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Browsing RP-Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology by Author "Mugubi, John"

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    Concomitants of socio-cultural exigencies on narrative preferences in the Kenyan “Riverwood” film
    (Royallite Global, 2017) Mugubi, John; Maina, William Mureithi
    In a report commissioned by the World Story Organization in 2008, Justine Edwards points out that storyline lies at the centre of problems that Kenyan films face in trying to “break down the wall preventing Kenyan films from being shown and celebrated beyond Kenyan borders” (2). This paper goes a step further to interrogate this observation through an analysis of three works by three representative Kenyan home grown film makers: Wandahuhu’s Njohera (Forgive Me), Simon Nduti’s Kikulacho (What Bites You) and Simiyu Barasa’s Toto Millionaire. These film makers have made films under the banner of a Kenyan film industry that has come to be informally known as Riverwood—the Kenyan film industry associated with Nairobi’s River Road Street where cheaply produced independent home videos are made in mass mainly by Kenyan film makers working with a Kenyan crew and cast. By measuring their works against narrative conventions established in classical cinema, this paper evaluates Kenyan home-grown film standards as defined by the narrative choices made by the film makers. In so doing, it is essentially guided by narratological theories developed by the constructivist school of film criticism. Constructivist film theory is founded on the tenet that it is the reader (viewer) of the film text that constructs the story and meanings in the story using the clues that the film maker puts before him or her on the screen. Other relevant theoretical positions are applied as need arises to cater for the multidisciplinary nature of film as an art. The methodology used is textual analysis and interpretation, therefore qualitative in nature.
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    Corollaries of Size: Encumbrances of Childhood in West-Indian Fiction
    (Royallite Global, 2018) Mugubi, John
    Perhaps the child’s physical and mental sizes contribute more to the position a child is bestowed in a society. Childhood has been viewed as an epitome of weakness and infirmity of both body and soul. This has been the more reason for not holding the child in high esteem. Children have been mistreated all over the world mostly because of their physical weakness. This study is based on the premise that a literary writer has a wide range of narrative agents to choose from. Literary artists discriminate in the choice of both subject – matter and technique. When a writer thus makes a selection, it is assumed that he opts for what is best suited to articulate his vision or ideological perspectives on a multiplicity of concerns. A writer’s preference in terms of character-types should therefore never be taken for granted but rather should be perceived as a vehicle through which the writer lays bare his/her message. Marjorie Boulton (1954) asserts: “a story or essay will achieve an effect on the reader by selection of some aspects of the subject” (p.109). Characterization in Literature is therefore a deliberate enterprise aimed at achieving certain goals.
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    The Gender Agenda in Kenyan Children’s Feature Films
    (Journal of African Theatre, Filmand Media Discourse, 2017) Ojiambo-Hongo, Evelyn; Mugubi, John; Nyaole, Rosemary
    The gender agenda has featured substantially in creative works from Africa and particularly Kenya. Although film is considered a new form of creative expression in Africa, compared to the west, it has not been excluded in exploring gender issues. While thegender discussion has prominently featured adults, the Kenyan film has gone a step further and explored gender on a different level. Gender has been explored from the point of view of the child and employed the child character as a suitable medium. Kenyanfilmmakers by employing the child character on the subject of gender seem to suggest that engendering of any member of the society begins in childhood and progresses into adulthood. This is a unique aspect about the Kenyan film yet has not been criticallyexamined. This paper therefore examines the child character and the exploration of gender in Kenyan films about children to ascertain the significance of the child character in exploring gender issues in society. It focuses on three selected films that extensively explore the engendering of children namely: Subira, Malika and Becoming A Girl. The films mainly focus on the engenderingof the girl child by the society and that this happens in childhood. They also employ the girl child as a character in exploring the issue of gender. Examination of the child character will be guided by the Sociological theory of film and the Formalist film theory. The structure of the paper is as follows: A background on the gender issue in creative works,theoretical perspectives on gender, analysis of Kenyan children’s films on gender and conclusions on the use of the child character in exploring gender.
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    Potentials of Drama Therapy in Unmasking the Personae of Survivors of Female Genital Mutilation among the Kenyan Maasai
    (Journal of African Theatre, Film and Media Discourse, 2017) Okoth, Zippora; Mugubi, John
    Circumcision of females was and still remains a cultural practice in many African communities. While modernity and access to education has led to vilification of this tradition, the guardians and conservators of traditions who perceive not virtue but abomination in this revolution intrepidly use myths and falsehoods to sustain the tradition. Where that does not work, force is used. The Maasai are such a community where circumcision of women is still entrenched and highly esteemed. Some girls manage to escape but the effects of the harrowing escape remain. Subsequently, this study proceeds from the postulation that drama therapy is a useful tool not only to reach out to the survivors of any form of distress but also as an avenue for helping the victims cope while enhancing their selfexpression by obliterating the facade engendered by the trauma. Our contention is that as a tool for unlocking the voices of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) survivors, drama therapy creates a safe and playful environment where the survivors are able to act out their anxieties, fears and mental conflicts and reclaim their true beings, dreams and positions in society. In this way, drama therapy provides a platform on which the stigma related to FGM emotions can be expelled. While using various drama therapy techniques such as story-telling, poetry, role playing, song and dance, this paper examines and establishes how drama therapy can be used as an effective tool in regaining the real persona of survivors of Female Genital Mutilation. The study employs Nietzsche’s Will to Power theory and Rogerian theory of self in interrogating the potentials of drama therapy. Nietzsche’s Will to Power theory has been used to explore underlying motives behind the survivors’ rebellion against Female Genital Mutilation whereas Rogerian theory of Self has been used in exploring the survivors’ perception of their world, perception of the concepts of freedom, choice and personal responsibility, particularly after surviving Female Genital Mutilation. The study utilizes control-group as its research design while engaging in-depth interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions and participatory theatre to obtain data for analysis. The data collected was analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively.
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    Public Perception of Parliament Broadcasting in Kenya: Towards Altering Mutual Attitude and Augmenting Knowledge
    (American Research Institute for Policy Development, 2014) Wandera, Sande; Mugubi, John
    A major problem faced by many countries where Parliamentary democracy is developing, is lack of public knowledge and awareness about the functions of Parliaments and their mode of operation (Miller, 2008; IPU, 2006; Bouchet & Kariithi, 2003). The lack of awareness is said to be accompanied by a general public opinion that Parliament is an opaque institution devoid of transparency and accountability (USAID, 2010; Bouchet &Kariithi, 2003). It is from this background that the concept of live parliament broadcasting was born; the argument being that live parliament broadcasting would engender a channel of communication – an unadulterated channel free from interventions of media owners and media professionals - between the public and politicians. It was believed that such an avenue would lead to greater public awareness and appreciation of the work of Parliament, better public attitude and perception towards parliament, involvement of the public more in Parliamentary debates, hence helping in making politicians more accountable (Miller, 2008; Franks & Vandermark, 1995; Wober, 1990). Miller (2008) quotes a contemporary British Conservative politician, Norman St. John-Stevas, who claims that: "To televise parliament would, at a stroke, restore any loss it has suffered to the new mass media as the political education of the nation." It is in this regard that this paper tries to find out the effects of live parliament broadcasts in Kenya on public knowledge across the social strata. It also investigates the effects of these broadcasts on public attitude and perception about parliament and its work. The paper further assesses broadcasting practices that could help improve live parliament broadcasting in Kenya.