A Relevance Theoretical Analysis of the Communicative Effect in Selected Contemporary Kikamba Gospel Music

Abstract

This study presents results of a research carried out to find out the communicative effect in selected contemporary Kikamba gospel songs. Music communicates, and influences people‘s behaviour and perceptions. Contemporary gospel music in Kikamba is no exception where such communication is concerned. The communication can be through the song text or other factors such as the songs tune, aspects of performance, instrumentation, among others. This study focuses on the communication of music through its lyrics. The aim of this study is to analyse the communicative effect of six selected contemporary Kikamba gospel songs based on the relevance theory of meaning. To communicate to the listeners, the singers have had to use language creatively to package their messages. They have done so by employing various communication strategies that have been highlighted in this paper. Music contains both explicitly and implicitly communicated messages. The relevance theoretic account of these notions is used in analysing the messages contained in the selected songs. To further find out the communicative effect, a questionnaire was administered and the responses analysed. The findings of this study show that there is effective communication in the selected contemporary Kikamba gospel songs through the use of language.