| dc.description.abstract | During the political saga of colonial days in Kenya, song-texts played an
important role in arousing nationalist feelings and political awareness of the
ethnic communities in the country. It is our belief, therefore, that a serious
literary study of song in relation to politics from one of these 'native' communities
in the country should be of great interest to us, not only because it gives us an
idea of the nature of the conflicts between these communities and their
colonizers, but also because the aesthetics aspect of political songs in general is
rarely addressed in this country. Such a study should should also be of great
interest to us since resistance to colonialism in Kenya was not uniform among the
ethnic communities that now comprise the nation, for during most of the colonial
period (1888-1963), conflicts between these ethnic communities and Europeans
were manifested differently by each of them. Hence, our concentration on one
community in this Study.
The study looks at the Agikuyu artists' reaction to colonialism. Through a
hundred songs that span across the entire colonial period and slightly after, the
Study investigates the hopes, fears and- expectations of the Agikuyu of Central
Kenya during the said period. It also investigates the Songs' linguistic features
and, in particular, the stylistic devices employed by the artists in their efforts to
communicate immediately and effectively to their Agikuyu audience. All this is
done through the eyes of the artists that either composed or recited these songs
to their audience with the aim of awakening the community's political awareness.
The artists also aimed at calling upon the community to revolt against the
colonial government. At the same time, they endeavoured to sustain its hopes
about a colonial-free Kenya. When Uhuru (independence) is finally realized, the
artists call upon the community to consolidate it.
After the introduction which provides the context for the interpretation of
the songs, the Study deals with theoretical and methodological issues that form
the basis for the analysis of the songs. Four basic themes, namely: Gikuyu
nationalism, Leadership and Territorial nationalism, are addressed in Chapter
Two after which stylistic and linguistic aspects of the songs are discussed. The
Study ends by highlighting the importance of both content and form in song | en |
