Threats to Masculinities and their Implications on Characters in Meja Mwangi’s Selected Urban Fiction
Loading...
Date
2023-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The study has investigated threats to masculinities and has examined the impact
of declining masculinities on characters in Meja Mwangi’s selected urban fiction,
with specific reference to The Cockroach Dance (1979) and Rafiki Man Guitar
(2013). These texts are set in postcolonial Kenyan cities and largely deal with the
challenges that came with modernization. The study focuses on how these
challenges affect characters in the selected texts and how they respond to them.
The study further examines the setting of the two texts in order to understand the
impact it has on characters and how it has contributed to the declining
masculinities in the modern, Kenyan man. It has employed the theories of
masculinity and postcolonial hybridity. The two theories have been used in the
examination of the impact of city’s slum setting on characters in the text under
study. The research is qualitative and has used textual analysis as its methodology
in collecting and interpreting data on characters from the selected texts. Primary
data was analysed and interpreted in line with the study’s objectives, taking into
consideration the insightful information obtained from secondary data. The study
concludes that, the postcolonial urban setting in Mwangi’s selected texts has
compromised masculinity by creating weak men who cannot perform their roles
efficiently and gives recommendations for further studies related to Mwangi’s
fiction especially on the identity of urban children and postcolonial urban
decadence
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts (Literature) of Kenyatta University December 2023
Supervisors:
1. Mark M. Chetambe
2. Macharia Mwangi