Performance and Literary Exploration of the Nduumo Ceremony Among the Agikuyu Community in Kenya

Abstract

The focus of this research is on the nduumo performance.It first appeared in early 1920s among the Giküyü community. The goal of the research was to determine what elements may have contributed to the nduumo genre's survival after other traditional genres had vanished.The study's main focus is on analyzing style and literary strategies, as well as features of performance and aesthetic values, as manifested in the compositions of selected performing artists. Nevertheless, our conclusions are bolstered by an examination of numerous musical compositions and listening to recorded cassettes on nduumo.The observations, comments, and arguments of the sources contributed to a better knowledge of Agikuyu socio-cultural family values and practices in nduumo performance. The research shows that nduumo performance employs a variety of stylistic strategies, including sarcasm, satire, metaphor, simile, metonymy, and structural elements such as repetition, parallelism, tonal patterns, and rhyme. This research shows that these technologies are used to communicate literary ideas in the community and society. For the conduct of an oral performance, stylistic and extra-literary characteristics are essential. Oral artists are the voice of the Giküyü and its adjacent people, such as the Embu, Meru, and Kamba, who value their cultural heritage. In order to discover the literariness in nduumo performance, ethnopoetics, functionalism, and performance techniques are used as guiding lights. This initiative proves that oral literature is not going away; it is a way of documenting historical and educational events that are still relevant and popular in today's culture. It demonstrates that in human society, performances and society are inextricably linked.