37 research outputs found
Practices of Everyday Life as Urban Cultures: A Reading of \u27Matatu\u27 Slogans in Eldoret, Kenya
No full textA contested site of ‘organized’ chaos, the matatu industry renders itself to analysis due to its nature. The industry, deemed to be for the poor and thus on the peripheries, carries within it intricacies worth appreciation. For a long time, the industry has been marred with chaos, disorder and complete disregard of the rule of law. However, despite this state that forces society to enforce order (uniforms, crackdowns), the matatu industry, for this paper, offers rich fodder for social commentary. This paper, premised on an on-going study, reads the matatu culture as a mirror within which social, political and economic realities are expressed within the mobile text. It is thus an attempt at reading the matatu slogans as the practices of everyday aimed at circulating certain ideologies. The paper’s discussion is grounded on the discourse theory developed by the French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and on selected tenets of The Practice of Everyday Life as espoused by Michel de Certeau (1925-1986). Specifically, the paper seeks to examine the extent to which matatu slogans and mottos are a reflection of urban culture, analyse the social relevance and significance of matatu slogans and mottos, and present a syntactical analysis of the matatu slogans and mottos. Adopting a qualitative approach, it reads a mobile text with the intention of inspecting the relationship between matatu slogans and urban cultures in Eldoret . The author relies on ethnographic and social survey methodology to explore the writing of short catchy texts that take the form of ‘creolized proverbs’, not necessarily traceable to any particular oral tradition in Kenya but which seem to be a summary of local experience and distillation of local anxieties and aspirations. The study collected at least 20 ‘matatu proverbs’. An observation checklist and camera were used to collect data. The information collected on the inscriptions was organized in categories based on the most common emerging themes. From the 20 randomly collected slogans, it emerged that the most common theme is on morality and social education. This is followed by religious messages. Overall, matatu slogans are syntactically arranged to emphasize meaning, provoke thinking and make the messages punchy and memorable. Matatu slogans hold significant value to society. They admonish people about hard work and moral uprightness. They also criticise insincerity and dishonesty. Matatu slogans also reflect the inherent urban culture. This culture is chaotic and forces individuals to survive by any means. It is a money-driven culture. While many would do anything to survive in this culture, majority still hold on to their religious and moral commitments
Enter the Manosphere: Mixed Languages, Misogyny and Gendered Discourse in Kenya’s Online Spaces
No full textOn November 10, 2024, Qatari news channel Al Jazeera released a YouTube feature called “Kenya’s Exploding ‘Manosphere’” decrying the rise of online spaces in Kenya, populated by loudmouths, shock artists, and unapologetic chauvinists.” The report drew reactions of anger, frustration, and derision from a portion of Kenyan commenters, who viewed it as an unfair attack on popular masculinity influencer Eric Amunga, also known as Amerix, and a blind imposition of Western gender realities onto Kenyan masculinity discourse. This paper situates those reactions within a broader literary and linguistic inquiry. Through a thematic analysis of the online comments, it identifies recurring articulations of masculinity in popular Kenyan discourse that Al Jazeera’s framing overlooks. It completes a qualitative reading grounded in critical discourse analysis and social constructionist theory of 20 tweets made by Amerix in 2024, 2 episodes of the Man Talk KE podcast, and 2 episodes of Iko Nini to reveal how Kenyan men use language today to perform and negotiate masculinities in digital spaces and how foreign framing obscures this. Finally, it recommends that scholars undertake a more nuanced inquiry into the languages of African masculinities
Revitalizing Mother Languages: Culture, Globalization and Technology
No full textGlobalization has paved the way for trade, culture sharing, research, development, communication, innovation, and the spread of technology. But while these and other benefits of globalization are often analyzed, little attention is paid to its impact on mother languages. The UN estimates that more than 50 percent of the languages spoken across the globe will disappear by 2100. Africa, in particular, is in danger of losing 250 languages out of the 600 currently in decline on the continent. Globalization is responsible for much of this language endangerment as it creates economic, political, and social conditions that promote the dominance of Western languages like English and French over local languages. This paper investigates the nature and extent of globalization’s impact on mother languages in Africa and forwards conditions that must be met to revive and preserve these languages. Using Memmi\u27s Theory of Colonization, Freire\u27s Theory of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Fisherman\u27s Model for Language Revival, I argue that language endangerment is a product of previous colonizing policies that disenfranchised indigenous languages and cultures and that continues today as globalization. I posit that this endangerment poses a direct threat to the national and cultural identities of indigenous peoples. I ask and attempt tp answer three key questions: How does globalization facilitate language loss in Africa? How does this loss impact the social, cultural, and political structures of African peoples? And what steps can the continent take to revive its mother languages? In analyzing past works, I acknowledge that many language revitalization campaigns rely on technology to preserve and disseminate ‘sleeping’ languages. I, however, advance that a multifaceted approach involving new educational policies, decolonization, locally-driven research, and collaborative learning could produce better results. I therefore recommend that technology-focused revitalization efforts be combined with community engagement and policy changes to revitalize the languages, identities, and cultures of African people more effectively
‘Cooking’ Masculinity in The Digital World: A Look at @Amerix’s #MasculitySaturday
No full textThrough technology, the digital world has birthed a new space where people can connect with each other. This space has resulted in a shift where concepts are no longer static but constantly shifting. One of these concepts is masculinity. A social construct, the concept of what constitutes masculinity continues to shift as the digital world moves towards both diversity and inclusivity. This paper seeks to explore how a medical consultant, Eric Amunga, has appropriated the digital space to make commentary on various social aspects. Using his Twitter handle @amerix, Amunga runs #MasculinitySaturday, whose ‘teachings’ range from health, relationships, sex to parenting, all in a bid to ‘equip’ men with means with which to navigate manhood. With a following of over 1.2 million followers, this article argues that Amunga has not only created a platform for his ‘teachings’ but also an avenue for the world to engage. Through the ‘replies’ section, members are allowed to comment on the topical issues thus engaging in debate. I thus examine the aesthetics of this discourses and demonstrate how Amunga draws in, engage and sustains his following through New Media and how this relates to the postcolonial experience of the contemporary period in East Africa
Mental Health and Minority Status: A Reading of William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Family"
No full textThis paper undertakes a postmodernist reading of William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’. It imbibes the binary notion of order versus chaos to interrogate the seeming madness of the main character in the story. The aim is to demonstrate how Emily, being a minority in her community, battles with mental or psychological challenges, which are products of her environment. The study relies on a close reading of the short story, and deploys postmodernism as a theoretical basis. In this paper, we argue that, the main character, Emily represents the minority in society. She is mentally unhinged (mad) because of the tragedies she has gone through. She is also a social recluse. Besides, she is a woman. To top it all, she is a criminal, a murderer. Faulkner thus uses Emily to give voice to the socially awkward or eccentric individuals. As we read the story, we begin to see that her madness is not random. It is a product of a larger society that has gone rogue. Emily is a product of the maltreatment and segregation she has suffered from a society that refuses to accept her. She embodies well Francis Imbuga’s (1987) statement: “When the madness of an entire nation disturbs a solitary mind, it is not enough to say that the man [or woman] is mad.
The Problematics of Language Choice in The Kenyan Film: Lessons from \u27Nairobi Half Life\u27
No full textThe authenticity and originality of film is not only realised through settings and events but also through actor performance (characterization) in the representation of those events and experiences. This paper analyses how choice of language in film affects actor performance especially in the portrayal of a realistic and authentic characterization, and how this impacts the overall authenticity in the film Nairobi Half Life by David Gitonga. Employing selected tenets of the realist film theory espoused by Andre Bazin, Stanley Cavel, Rudolph Arneheim and Siegfried Kraucer, the paper undertakes a critical analysis of language and performance in the selected film and looks at how choice of language aids in the enactment of character that meets the threshold of being genuine, authentic and realistic – ‘reality’ and ‘authenticity’ being at the centre of a film’s quality. It interrogates how actor performance in the scenes is affected by the spoken language used by the actor in two ways; one, whether the language spoken corresponds to the actual language used in the real world and two, whether the language chosen fits the character’s physiognomy in bringing out a genuine rendition
Management, productivity and livelihood effects on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms from interventions addressing animal health and nutrition and milk quality
No full textWe aimed to describe the management and productivity of this group of smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya at the beginning of an intervention program and to document relevant observed changes in the 3rd year of the intervention. A 3-year intervention program, focused on management of animal health and nutrition, and milk quality, was implemented by one Kenyan and two Canadian non-governmental organizations (one university based) to help improve the milk production and livelihoods of Kenyan smallholder dairy farmers (primarily women). Thirty farmers were enrolled and completed questionnaires at the start and end of the project. Focus groups were also conducted to obtain qualitative information on livelihood effects from the program. In 2004, 70% of the eligible youngstock (more than 15 months of age) were pregnant, and cows had a long average days-in-milk of 240 days. External parasites, poor hygiene, and long claws were not uncommon among cows, and 37% and 20% of the farms reported clinical intestinal parasitism and diarrhea in youngstock. In 2006, there were significant improvements in the proportion of farms planting high-protein forages, farms using better milking procedures, and on-farm milk storage methods. The reported mastitis incidence rate fell from 0.55 to 0.20 cases/cow-year (p<0.01), and the average number of cows and youngstock significantly increased from 1.5 and 0.9 to 2.9 and 2.6, respectively. There were reported improvements in the livelihoods among the member families. The partnership-based intervention program significantly improved management and productivity of this group of smallholder dairy farmers in rural Kenya, leading to reported livelihood benefits
Orality and Informality in Video-Film Distribution in Kenya: The Case of Eldoret
No full textThe history of Cinema in Africa is clearly one of marginalization at all levels, including film making, distribution and access. As various film scholars have noted these processes of exclusion were closely tied to the colonial and imperialist interests of domination and exploitation and later the ideological concerns of the African postcolonial state which not only inherited colonial structures and policies but employed these instruments to privilege the political class and serve the interests of the powerful and wealthy citizenship. This paper examines the strategies employed by the traders marginalized from access to formal structures of distribution of films who have established informal modes of transaction with their equally economically disenfranchised clients in Eldoret town. We employ Erving Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical framework to analyze data obtained through ethnographic field study involving interaction with traders and their clients in the streets of the town through observation, interviews and personal testimonies. Our findings are that (i) Informal trade in video is a consequence of marginalization in access to films (ii) There is a close link between informal trade in video films and the broader Jua Kali informal systems which can be traced back to strategies of coping in urban economies established by marginalized African populations during the colonial era (iii) Despite the digital transformation in the way cinema is produced and watched, the in-formalization of film distribution continues in Kenya and traders find innovative ways of linking with their clients (iv) Orality which has been part of the African cultural heritage of communication and social interaction remains an important mode of transaction in informal video trade in Kenya
Progressing beyond SLMTA: Are internal audits and corrective action the key drivers of quality improvement?
No full textCDC-37CDC-3720145 U2G PS001285-02 PEPFAR/United States634
Never be silent : publishing & imperialism in Kenya, 1884-1963
No full textSocial communications are central to any social struggle. There is a sizable body of literature from other countries on the use of oral medium, newspapers, books and other forms of communications being used as tools for organising against a powerful enemy, as a training ground for cadres and for clarifying and developing revolutionary theory, ideology, organisation and practice. All this ensures a greater unity among those resisting oppression and exploitation. Thus revolutionary and liberation forces of Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union, the Communist Party of China, and in Vietnam had developed theories and practices of revolutionary publishing as part of their revolutionary work. This has also been the case during anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles in Africa, but very little of this has been systematically documented as an aspect of revolutionary communications policy and practice. While the
colonial communications systems have been reasonably well documented, the resistance communication systems remain largely undocumented and ignored. This book is an initial attempt to document this dynamic communications process in Kenya with its external struggles against colonialism and its complex internal struggles with overlaying divisions of race and class, Kenyan and foreign peoples. The main theme emerging from this experience is that people struggling to change their society always find ways of establishing their own system of communicating with the people they lead
and by whom they are led. Their mission of revolution, of change, of peace, of social and economic justice requires that they should never be silent. This was well understood and practised by the liberation forces in Kenya. They
were never silent
