RP-Department of Literature

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“Nothing but ogre”: Problems in the Conception and Practice of Folklore in Kenya
(2005) Mbugua wa-Mungai
I n my days as a Graduate Assistant in the literature department where I now work, I registered students for their courses. Few students voluntarily signed up to study oral literature.1 Common objections included: “besides teaching, what can you possibly do with oral literature?”, “there is no place for oral literature in the job-market!”, “can you please tell me why I should study oral literature?” and “after paying so much money for tuition, do I have to be forced to study oral literature?” As is common wisdom in folkloristics, probing the mundane often helps to uncover profound meanings, and my yawn-filled clerking days led me to think about the conception and practice of folklore in Kenya. My students’ disconcerting comments force us to revisit the place of oral literature in the Kenyan curriculum as well as our broader understanding of the discipline. Why, contrary to what has been commonly assumed, do young people in and out of learning institutions insist on oral literature’s “irrelevance” to their lives? During fieldwork I often encounter young people who proudly claim that they have not witnessed a single performance of a folkloric text, and that other than what was read to them in school, they have no idea whether “these things still exist!” Obviously, there are folklore texts in circulation every day, but can their users be blamed if their understanding of this material differs from our academic notions of how it ought to be described? Beyond this, is there something in the usage of such texts that academics have either over-looked or failed to grasp entirely? I seek to examine some problems associated with lay and scholarly uses of the term folklore. At a different level, I am interested in arguing for an expansion of the scope of the discipline to reflect the complex, ever-changing ways of folk expression.
Marriage and sexuality in the indigenous Kenyan Film.
(Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) and Kenya Association of Professional Counselors (KAPC), 2005-06) Diang'a, Rachael
Mirroring the Subtext: Postmodernism in Ngugi wa Thiongo's Wizard of the Crow
(Journal of Language, Technology and Entrepreneurship in Africa, 2007) Maina, Oscar Macharia
This reading of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Wizard of the Crow attempts to place the text in the postmodern writing tradition. We point out how surrealistic features are utilized to enhance the themes, style, and the author's conundrums. Ngugi has been accused of focusing on ideologies at the expense of creativity. Wizard of the Crow is, however, a purely artistic text where Ngugi's creativity is plausibly developed, without hindering his ideological expression. The fact that the text was originally written in Gikuyu helps the writer draw from the resource of traditional discourse, and arguably enable not only Gikuyu culture, but also their worldview and history negotiate for a global position in line with emerging postmodern imperatives.
Tusker Project Fame: Ethnic States, Popular Flows
(Routledge, 2007-11) Wa-Mungai, M.
Ethnicity has come to be the dominant currency of Kenya’s politics over recent years. This article explores the social meaning of ethnicity through an examination of ethnic stereotyping, as this is revealed in a variety of popular discourses. Stereotypes are forged and circulated within popular sites of cultural encounter, and they are one of the principal means through which the objectives of ethnic projects are executed. The predominance of stereotypes within everyday social discourse in Kenya makes ethnic ‘othering’ normative. The article interrogates the links between popular cultural flows that enable the formulation and dissemination of both ethnic-based and other stereotypes, for instance on masculinity. It is argued that a consideration of (en-) gendering, often entirely missing from discussions of stereotypes, enables a more nuanced reading of such practices. It is asserted that stereotypes have become a dominant mode of discoursing in Kenya today because they constitute a corpus of folklore, originated within ‘in-groups’ and deployed in various modes against ‘out-groups’. In a society where folklore reaches deep into the past few people ever stop to question the validity of folkloric interpretations that are constantly at work in the present. These issues around stereotyping and ethnicity are examined through consideration of bar-room conversations, the lyrics of popular songs, text messaging, internet chat rooms, and newspaper cartoons
Restorying” the Maternal Myth of Origin in Zami and Makeba: My Story
(Taylor & Francis, 2008) Benjamin, M.; Odhoji, O.
Myths are particularly important sources of alternative history for groups denied a place in mainstream culture. I have, throughout my private war, been a she, a you, a Donna, a me, and finally, an I.
Made in Riverwood: (Dis) Locating Identities and Power through Kenyan Pop Music
(Routledge, 2008-06) Wa-Mungai, M.
Local scholarship seems to deliberately cultivate invisibility for local creative expressive forms especially when these happen to fall under the popular culture rubric. This phenomenon is related to broader questions of cultural identities and their authorship. However, where scholars might not have enthusiastically taken up their role in studying unorthodox cultural phenomena, popular culture practitioners have actively taken up the work of reflexive self-documentation. My assumption is that the academy is aware of the tremendous capacity of popular culture to influence people but it is quite unwilling to cede the authority to define taste and identity to ‘street’ practitioners. Not studying popular modes of creative expression at all or merely according them peripheral attention ensures that these artists do not enter into mainstream academic discourse. This paper hopes to show that the vast popular culture industry that is located in Nairobi’s RiverRoad – now branded ‘Riverwood’, Holywood’s local variant – is quite aware of some of the key questions about contemporary popular culture and the power of its representation. A key argument is that visual recording is a critical aspect of ongoing transformative cultural innovation in which the VCD form has come to impact significantly on popular musicians’ ability to influence viewers’ self/other perceptions. Data is drawn from RiverRoadrecorded music VCDs and from conversations with consumers of popular culture in order to show urban artists’ contribution to on-going discourses of power and identity.
Exploring the motifs of death and immortality
(Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa, 2009) Maina, Oscar Macharia
Felt threatened by the eventuality of death, inculcating in them a fear so great that all possible strategies are engaged in the search for an avenue that would prepare them for this eventuality. A careful exploration of human activities surrounding the issues of death and immortality reveals an obsession with the expression of the possibility of defeating death through the artistic act. Art functions as the arena where human beings can mock, jeer, and repudiate mortality. Indeed, death is a central conundrum in philosophical, literary and even religious arguments that focus on human identity and reality. The usefulness of literature in exposing human fears, aspirations and desires is emphasized as literature functions as the meeting point where all manner of philosophies are presented and debated. In examining how the motifs of death and immortality are represented in the artistic act, it is imperative that this article draws from a wide range of genres. Apparently, both oral and written forms of human expression, as well as metaphysical, fantastic and mythic representations of the cultural text have been taken into consideration. The revelation is that we rely on art to express even our deepest fears, and we reciprocate by giving art an immortal status. This results in an interdependence that combines to defeat the abrasiveness of mortality. Also, this symbiotic relationship accords the creative act a pivotal role for it gives death a form and a face, making it easier for us to deal with it and assume a privileged psychological standpoint.
Literature: Gender Roles in Initiation Songs of the Igembe People of Kenya
(Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research., 2009) Kobia, J.M.; King'ei, G. K.
This article examines and critically analyses gender images in initiation songs among the Igembe community, an African ethnic group of Eastern Bantu in Kenya. The article traces the evolution of the concept of gender from Plato’s time to the 21st Century and places it within the Igembe people’s worldview using initiation songs as a point of reference. It is revealed that both man and woman play a crucial and complementary role in the socio-economical life in Igembe community. However, despite the crucial role that women play, they are devalued due to societal attitudes and beliefs as evident in the initiation songs analysed.
Gender In Nascent Module II Programmes In Kenyan Public Universities A Descriptive Survey
(OSSREA, 2009) Wainaina, Michael
This study addresses the intersection of issues of gender and the nascent Module II Programmes in public universities in Kenya. The term Module II programmes to refer to all the adult continuing/lifelong education programmes in public universities in Kenya that are being offered to mature students who are not selected through the Joint Admissions Board (JAB). The onset of the new millennium has seen an unprecedented growth of these programmes in Kenyan public universities. The study's objectives were: To identify how men and women participating in Module II programmes compare in demographic, socio-economic, attitudinal and related factors; To determine to what extent Module II programmes are providing an avenue for women and men to change to science-oriented career options; and to determine to what extent gender equity has been identified as an objective in Module II programmes in Kenyan public universities.
Ethnic Identities and Gender Themes in Contemporary East African Literature
(2011) Makokha, J. K.S.
Diese Dissertation untersucht Werken von Gegenwartsschriftstellern aus Ostafrika, die entweder dort oder im Ausland leben. Der Textkorpus umfasst neue Romane und Kurzgeschichten in englischer Sprache aus Kenia als ein Mikrokosmos der Region Ostafrikas. Die Region Ostafrika bringt sowohl schriftliche wie auch orale Literaturen hervor. Ostafrika produziert neben englischprachigen Literaturen auch Literaturen in der regionalen Sprache und lingua franca Kisuaheli. Der Begriff „Gegenwartsliteraturen“ bezieht sich allgemein auf die Literaturen in englischer Sprache, die letzte Zwanzig Jahren (1991-2011) entstanden sind. Die in dieser Studie untersuchten Autoren sind: M. G. Vassanji (Kenia/Tanzania), Binyavanga Wainaina (Kenia/Uganda), und Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (Kenia). Die Studie unternimmt eine kritische Infragestellung von neueren Werken von etablierten Schriftstellern wie Vassanji und Ngugi und von neu entstandenen Werken von jüngeren Schriftstellern, die zur Jahrhundertwende (21. Jahrhundert) neue Blicke auf Fragen der Identität entwerfen. Vordergründig wird untersucht, die Art und Weise wie “Ethnizität” und “Gender” in Romanen und Kurzprosa als Indexes der kulturellen Identität fungieren. Wie tragen diese zwei Faktoren zur ästhetischen bzw. formalen Thematisierung der Identitätsfragen in Werken von etablierten bzw. aufkommenden Schriftstellern? Diese Studie entsteht aus der dringenden Bedürfnis, angesichts der vermehrten Konflikte der jüngsten Zeiten, neue kritischen Studien zur den entstehenden Konturen der literarischen Diskursen und vor allem der Diversität der literarischen Kulturen in Afrika hervorzubringen. Die schöpferische Imagination ist eine der Mittel, womit eine Gemeinschaft oder eine Kultur sich in der Welt präsentiert. Sie stellt die internen bzw. externen Umwelten dar. Daher trägt das Studium der Soziologie der Literatur zur Selbstverständnis der literarischen Handlungsträger einer jedweden Gesellschaft bei. Letztes ist nicht nur die tragende Annahme der Studie, sondern die Hautpthese der „postcolonial studies“ als eigenständige literaturwissenschaftliche Disziplin. Die Tendenz, soziologische Parameter in der ostafrikanischen Literaturwissenschaft anzuwenden ist bereits fest etabliert. Aufgrund des multikulturellen Charakters der Gesellschaften und Nationen aus der die Region besteht, dürfte diese Tendenz kaum überraschend sein. Unter diesen Ländern befinden sich Kenia, Uganda, Tansania, Somalia, der Sudan, Äethiopen, Ruanda and Burundi. Die ersten drei dieser Länder, woher die meisten unserer literarischen Texten entstammen, beherbergen indigene afrikanischen Gesellschaftsgruppen sowie Einwanderungsgruppen aus Südasien und der arabischen Halbinsel, wie auch sichtbare Sozialgruppen europäischer Herkunft. Diese drei Stränge der kulturelle Erbe bilden zusammen das Kompositum der ostafrikanischen kulturellen Identität als Ganzes. Es versteht sich von selbst, dass eine solche Studie, die eine Vielzahl an Schriftstellern und Textsorten unter die Lupe nimmt, auf breitgefächerten, jedoch sorgfältig ausgewählten theoretischen bzw. methodologischen Grundlagen basieren muss. Daher werden in dieser Dissertation theoretischen Paradigmen aus der “Gender Studies”, der postkolonialismus Theorie und eigenen Aspekte von Narratologie angewandt, in eine Untersuchung, die im Laufe der sieben Einzelkapiteln, eine wissenschaftlich fundierten Panorama der englischsprachigen ostafrikanischen Literatur in seiner ganzen Breite und mit seinen formalen bzw. thematischen Besonderheiten, bietet.
Writing Freedom: The Art of Contesting Incarceration
(African Journals Online, 2011) Maina, Oscar Macharia
Human existence and interaction is essentially characterized by a contest between individuals who at times have diametrically opposed social, political, and economic ideals. Due to the forceful nature of our idiosyncrasies, we always perceive our ideals infallible and hence as fit of being enforced on others. This attempt makes human interaction teeter precariously on the axis of dominance and the desire to overwhelm on one hand, and resistance on the other. Moreover, resistance is not realized in similar degrees in all individuals; there are those who are easily intimidated, while others have amazing levels of resilience and they would go to any length to defend their convictions. This fact is also explained by the observation that in all of us there is a paradoxical collocation of two natural and almost instinctual desires; desire to dominate others, and the desire for self-defense and self-preservation against domination by others. This preservation goes beyond protection of the body to include even the preservation of self dignity and personality. However, in the context of overwhelming subjugation, denial, and dominance, the oppressed lack effective avenues through which a conventional defense for the self would be enacted. This scenario is particularly witnessed in the context of imprisonment. In prison, the passage of time exposes the prisoner to vulnerability and a possible loss of self identity, which is made extremely painful by the severance of all meaningful human interactions.
Influence of gender roles on students pursuing module ii programs in Kenyan public universities.
(Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA, 2011-09) Wainaina, Michael
Module II programs in Kenyan Public Universities have grown over the last ten years giving expanded access to many Kenyans hitherto unable to access higher education. Since the programs are being offered in an educational setting with already well documented gender disparities, this paper argues that research focus in higher education needs to be directed to the gender trends in Module II programs, to ensure that the gender is not relegated to the periphery of the discourse surrounding Module II programs. Neglecting the gender angle may lead to an undesirable situation where Module II programs will perpetuate the gender disparities that currently characterize the educational sector, or worse still, create new ones that will diminish or undermine any gains that could have been made towards gender parity in tertiary and other levels of education The paper thus reports groundbreaking research that seeks to call attention to the implications of gender in Module II programs. The paper explores how the traditional gender roles influence students enrolled in the programs. Two public Universities were sampled through stratified random sampling and data collected from students undertaking courses under the Module II program. Descriptive statistics were used in analyzing data. The paper demonstrates that gender roles influence both men and women in different ways, making it necessary for Universities to consider gender barriers while advertising and mounting Module II programs.
Gendered Challenges and Opportunities in Module II Programs in Kenyan Public Universities: A Critical Appraisal
(Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA, 2011-12) Wainaina, Michael
African countries have, since independence recognized education as a major catalyst of development . Five decades later, this focus has not changed although literacy rates remain low. In Kenya, many initiatives to increase access have been mounted and at the university level, public universities increased access by introducing self - sponsored programs, popularly known as Module II programs. The programs are being offered to mature students as a life-long learning model. This paper explores the intersection of issues of gender and these Module II programs in public Universities in Kenya
Imagi(ni)ng people with special needs through literary artistry: an analysis of the oral narrative motif of the princess who could not smile.
(Science Journal Publication, 2012) Mwai, W.
This paper is developed from research in the oral narratives of the Agikuyu. The paper revisits the portrait of persons with special needs in a selected thematic area in Oral Literature, the motif of The princess who could not smile. After observing that Literature is a mirror reflection of what happens in society, we argue that it should also be a guide as to how society was, is and should be. The portrait of people with special needs in Literature therefore, is significant to how this category of people was viewed, is viewed and should be viewed. With reference to the variants of the narrative The princess who could not smile, the discussion argues that the literary artist has a very unique portrait of persons with special needs. Through scrutiny of literary creations we observe that people with special needs have a reservoir of knowledge that can salvage society from various trials and tribulations. The analysis warns us that we often ignore the potentials hidden in these persons and hence society continues to grapple with problems that could have been addressed if these potentials were tapped. Society is therefore challenged to decipher these potentials and propagate them to all and sundry so that this often ignored wealth is utilized to the well being of the society at large.
Land as Story and the Place o f The Story: A Contemporary Kenyan Illustration of Landscape as Text
(2012) Wainaina, Michael
The discussion of this paper seeks to contribute to the growing body of wide ranging stud ies which seek to analyse the diffusion of the core concepts regarding ‘places’ and ‘landscape’ as texts of social, anthropological and cultural analysis. These concepts according to Wilson and David (2002) are centered on experience through which social a nd personal expressions of place - marking signal a cultural presence and give the land social and cultural significance. This approach recognizes that the products of people’s engagement with landscapes are meaningfully constructed social texts involving sp atial and bodily experience. These texts are constructed as people, landscapes and things are constantly involved in the process of inscribing place. It is therefore necessary to study the social cultural and political contexts that provide geographical la ndscapes their textual/narrative significance. This paper explores landscape texts by discussing issues that surround the Gikuyu cultural heritage site at Mukurwe Wa Nyagathanga. The paper seeks to discuss this landscape in regard to Gikuyu identity and th e tensioned - narratives emerging from the need to preserve the old but also to inscribe a new contemporary con - text of a globalizing Kenya
Kwani
(Kwani Trust, 2012) Nyanjui, W.; Maza, L.; Omusi, M.; Araka, M.
Nurturing multiple intelligences through African Indigenous Education: a case study of Unyago a swahili girls to women nuptial institution.
(2012-10) Mwai, Wangari; Runo, M.N.
African Literature in a Structural and Linguistic Jail: Acknowledging, Apprehending and Advocating for Prison Break
(International Journal of Humanities & Social Science, 2012-11) Mugubi, J.
The author describes how works by some African writers that entail literary experimentation have not been seen as serious literature. He mentions how the society have refused to grow and still believe in three Eurocentric main genres, namely Poetry, Drama and Prose Fiction. Famous African literary works are cited which include "Showhat and Sowhat," "Lwanda Magere" and "Return to My Native Land."
Ora-media and the Promotion of African Indigenous Vegetables in Kisii, Siaya and Nyando Districts of Nyanza Province, Lake Victoria Region, Kenya
(Journal of Communication and Culture, 2012-12) Mwai, W.
The main purpose of this study was to collect data on how traditional modes of communication, preserve disseminate and conserve information on African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs). Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion and a pre-tested questionnaire. This research on AIVs indicates that they are highly valuable. However, this has not been disseminated to rural farmers and consumers. This research findings revealed among other things that Ora- Media can be utilized to disseminate scientific themes on AIVs. Hence, public enlightenment campaign should be conducted for the inhabitants of the study area. Also, qualitative awareness on the important of the African Indigenous Vegetables should be encouraged while government on their part should grant loan to interested farmers and encourage them to cultivate these vegetables in commercial quantity.
Power and Gendered Identities: (Re) Configuring the Gendered Self in Kenyan Drama
(International Institute for Science, Technology and Education, Vol.3, No.9, 2013, 2013) Olembo, W.; Kebaya, C.
Studies of power and gender identity form part of the dominant discourses of various scholars such as Judith Butler, Julia Kristeva, Margaret Hall, Michel Foucault, and Gloria Anzaldua who have explored the concepts of power and gender identity at various levels and contexts. This paper, while contending that gender is one of the most important components of social identity and cultural classification across human cultures, investigates how the politics of gender identity intersects with power in the Kenyan society. To do this, we examine two selected Kenyan plays: Francis Imbuga’s Aminata and Dennis Kyallo’s The Hunter is Back. The study perceives gender as a multi-layered structure in which the perpetuation and re-creation of gender concepts, social divisions and individual identities take place and are in a continuum of struggle. In this regard, we explore how the gendered self (re)configures her position in society as portrayed in the selected texts. Anchored within a multiple complementary theoretical framework in interrogating the nexus between power and gender, the paper argues that the gendered self is in a constant struggle for space within her socio-cultural context. Conscious of the inferior position and roles assigned to her by societal structures, the woman, as the gendered self, confronts socio-cultural practices, politics, and agency among others in an attempt to re-create her own space. Ultimately, these actions (re)define and (re)configure the woman in echelons of power and authority and enable her to participate actively in public spaces. This paper proffers new insights in exploring the representation of powerand the gendered self in society through creative works of art in Kenya.

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