Cultural Archives of Atrocity: Essays on the Protest Tradition in Kenyan Literature, Culture and Society PDF
Preview Cultural Archives of Atrocity: Essays on the Protest Tradition in Kenyan Literature, Culture and Society
Cultural Archives of Atrocity Critical studies on the aesthetic representations of atrocity the world over have taken different discursive dimensions from history, sociology, political to human rights. These perspectives are usually geared towards understanding the manifestations, extent, political, and economic im- plications of atrocities. In all these cases, representation has been the singular concern. Cultural Archives of Atrocity: Essays on the Protest Tradition in Kenyan Literature, Culture, and Society brings together ge- neric ways of interrogating artistic representations of atrocity in Kenya. Couched in interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and cross-disciplinary approaches, essays in this volume investigate representations of atrocity in Kenyan literature, film, popular music, and other mediated cultural art forms. Contributors to this volume not only bring on board multiple and competing perspectives on studying atrocity and how they are ar- chived, but also provide refreshing and valuable insights in examining the artistic and cultural interpellations of atrocity within the sociopo- litical imaginaries of the Kenyan nation. This volume forms part of the growing critical resources for scholars undertaking studies on atrocity within the fields of ethnic studies, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, peace and conflict, criminology, psychology, political economy, and his- tory in Kenya. Charles Kebaya holds a PhD in television drama criticism from Kenyatta University and currently teaches Literature at Machakos University, Kenya. Colomba Kaburi Muriungi is an associate professor of African literature in the Department of Humanities and also the Dean, Faculty of Human- ities and Social Sciences at Chuka University, Kenya. Justus Kizito Siboe Makokha is a Kenyan poet, critic, translator, and academic. He is based at Kenyatta University in the Department of Lan- guages, Linguistics and Literature. Cultural Archives of Atrocity Essays on the Protest Tradition in Kenyan Literature, Culture and Society Edited by Charles Kebaya, Colomba Kaburi Muriungi and Justus Kizito Siboe Makokha First published 2019 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Taylor & Francis The right of Charles Kebaya, Colomba Kaburi Muriungi and Justus Kizito Siboe Makokha to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kebaya, Charles, editor. | Muriungi, Colomba Kaburi, editor. | Justus Kizito Siboe Makokha, editor. Title: Cultural archives of atrocity : essays on the protest tradition in Kenyan literature, culture and society / edited by Charles Kebaya, Colomba Kaburi Muriungi and Justus Kizito Siboe Makokha. Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019008152 | ISBN 9780367205454 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429262166 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Kenyan literature—20th century—History and criticism. | Kenyan literature—21st century—History and criticism. | Motion pictures—Kenya—History. | Atrocities in literature. | Political violence in literature. | Political violence in motion pictures. Classification: LCC PL8014.K4 C85 2019 | DDC 809.896762—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019008152 ISBN: 978-0-367-20545-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-26216-6 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9780429262166 Typeset in Sabon by codeMantra Contents Acknowledgements ix List of Contributors xi Foreword xvii GRACE A. MUSILA Introduction: Conceptualizing Representations of Atrocity in Art 1 CHARLES KEBAYA PART 1 Representations of Atrocity in the Contemporary Kenyan Novel 9 1 Narrating Trauma in Yvonne Owuor’s Dust 11 EDGAR NABUTANYI 2 An Eco-critical Reading of Voice of the People and Different Colours 32 EVA NABULYA 3 Locating Bodies, Embodying Resistance in Wahome Mutahi’s Jail Bugs and Three Days on the Cross 49 MACHARIA GATUNDU 4 Derision, Delirium, and Denied Justice in Benjamin Garth Bundeh’s Birds of Kamiti 67 LARRY NDIVO 5 Socio-economic Atrocities in Meja Mwangi’s Going Down River Road and Kinyanjui Kombani’s The Last Villains of Molo 79 ROBERT WESONGA vi Contents 6 Symbolism of Human Relations in Kenyan Narratives of Ethnic Violence 89 WAIGANJO NDIRANGU 7 Sycophants in a Cannibal State: Kenya in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow 106 WAFULA YENJELA 8 Mediating the Vicious Cycle of Political Atrocities in Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Wizard of the Crow 123 CHARLES K. RONO 9 Gender-based Atrocity in Kenyan Urban Women’s Novel after 2000 132 ALINA RINKANYA 10 Reading the Politics of Violence and Impunity in Pango and Kufa Kuzikana 155 SIMIYU KISURULIA 11 Political Atrocity in Kenyan Swahili Novel after the Year 2000 169 MIKHAIL GROMOV PART 2 Narrating Mau Mau Violence and Trauma in the Kenyan Novel 181 12 Textual Subversion in the Representation of Mau Mau Atrocities in Settler Writing in Kenya 183 COLOMBA KABURI MURIUNGI 13 Grotesque Images of Colonial and Mau Mau Violence in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not, Child and A Grain of Wheat 194 BENON TUGUME 14 Emergency-era Trauma in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s A Grain of Wheat 210 GĨCHINGIRI NDĨGĨRĨGĨ Contents vii PART 3 Representations of Atrocity in Popular Arts 227 15 Between Fait Accompli and Eruptions of Violence: The Kenyan Social Imaginary in Selected Stories of Kwani?05 229 MIRIAM PAHL 16 Confronting National Pain and Suffering through Judy Kibinge’s Feature Film, Something Necessary 245 JACQUELINE OJIAMBO 17 Screening Violence and Reconciliation: The Production and Circulation of Films about the Kenyan Post-election Violence of 2007/2008 257 ROBIN STEEDMAN 18 Bestial Zoosemic Labelling in Kenyan Political Songs: A Conceptual Metaphor Perspective 275 GEORGE OUMA OGAL AND TITUS KARURI MACHARIA 19 Reading Kalenjin Popular Music as a Gem of Ethnic Violence 290 KIPROTICH E. SANG PART 4 Representations of Atrocity in Kenyan Poetry 311 20 Repression in the Poetry of Jared Angira 313 BWOCHA NYANGEMI 21 Swahili Poetry and Atrocity in Postcolonial Kenya: Accounts of Three Kiswahili Poets 329 NAHASHON O. NYANGERI Index 349 Acknowledgements The editors are thankful to all the contributors to this volume for finding time to respond to the call for papers and generously giving their contri- butions to the understanding of cultural archives of atrocity in Kenya. The editors are indebted to Prof C. J Odhiambo, Prof. Wangari Mwai, Dr. Esther Mbithi, and Dr. Miriam Maranga Musonye who reviewed the initial proposal for this project and recommended that this mono- graph will not only be an important contribution to emerging studies on atrocity but also will be very useful in creating an understanding of the representation of atrocity in the creative arts in Kenya. We are thankful to many of our colleagues and friends for their un- wavering support in producing this volume. We would like to particu- larly thank Dr. Anne Ajulu-Okungu, Dr. Kamau wa Goro, Dr. Oscar Maina, Dr. Macharia Mwangi, Dr. Mugo Muhia, Dr. Oyoo Weche (now the late), Dr. Ezekiel Kaigai, Dr. Solomon Onchoke, Dr. Edwin Mosoti, Dr. Rachael Diang’a, Dr. Fred Mbogo, Dr. Felix Orina, and Mr. Eric Maritim, for finding time from their busy work schedules to review ar- ticles that form the chapters of this volume. Their incisive and insightful comments went a long way in improving the chapters herein; since you were not obliged to do so, we, the editors, are most grateful. Finally, the editors would also like to thank Dr. Jennifer Abbott, Routledge, for having faith in this project and her dynamic editorial assistant for Literature, Veronica Rodriguez, for their assistance in pre- paring the manuscript for this publication.
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