Metaphors of power in selected Kenyan plays: a comparative study of inheritance and the hunter is back

Abstract

The study investigates the metaphors of power and how such metaphors are performed and manifested in selected dramatic texts by Kenyan writers in the 21st century.~ corollary question raised is how, Kenyan dramatists transform the power , " charged political field coupled with change in Kenya into drama. Therefore, the study stemmed from the need to subject the formal and informal elements deployed by most of the Kenyan playwrights to a more comprehensive analyses, and to in fact, interrogate their contribution to the dramatization of the metaphors of power in Kenya. Hence, this study undertook to examine the dramatic ingredients that have made it possible for the metaphors of power in the Kenyan society to be expressed in drama. In this regard, the study delimited itself to Inheritance by David Mulwa and The Hunter is Back by Dennis Kyalo. The study engaged Sociological theory and Stylistic criticism to investigate its concerns. The concept of power presupposes that there are those who wield power and those who, are ruled in the society. But, as times and society keeps' on changing, the power barons also change tact in their attempt to cling on to power. Thus,' Sociological ,,'theory was used to analyse this relationship between- power and change in, society. __ Stylistics criticism was employed to unravel the dramatic elements used by the playwrights to articulate the metaphors of power and change in the selected texts. The study was library based owing to the textual nature' of both its primary and secondary sources. Therefore, a textual exegesis was conducted from a close reading of both primary texts and secondary sources guided by the study objectives. For purposes of analysis, the study was structured into five chapters. Chapter one focused on mapping the study, chapter two focused on stylistic features in the two selected texts; chapter three focused on the .metaphors of power in Inheritance, Chapter four focused on metaphors of' power in The Hunter is Back while the chapter five, provides the summary, -conclusion and suggestions for further study.