| dc.description.abstract | This study is premised on the idea that the performing arts are dynamic and adaptive to the
changing social and artistic demands. It therefore examines the artistic adaption of the oral
narrative from the traditional setting in the Bukusu community to the modern conventional and
converted spaces. The study utilized semiotics and performance theory to trace the evolution of
the script from the traditional setting to the contemporary setting. Through observation and
critical analysis of live performances, video recorded performances, and interviews: it analyzes
the oral narrative as performance text focusing on the dramatic structure and how it is enhanced
through character construction. The study explores the different contexts in which narratives are
told in the traditional Bukusu setting within both aesthetic and social dramas. It further traces the
transformation of the oral narrator over time and space and interrogates the oral narrator
adaptability and the changing spaces and his/her treatment of the audience within the emerging
spaces. Finally it focuses on the narrative techniques employed by both traditional and modern
day narrators seeking to explain the role and centrality of the oral narrator in the traditional
setting both as an entertainer and socialization agent and extending to how the modern narrator
operates within unfamiliar audience in conventional spaces.
The study notes that the traditional oral narrative text is latent with conflicts that are built around
interests over shared resources. This conflict is further enhanced through characters whose
desires, owing to their inherent behaviour puts them in constant conflict with other characters.
The desire to make conflict credible and interesting demands that the forces in conflict are
balanced, making the conflict worth watching. The animal characters carry along mannerisms
noted in the animal world that reinforces their roles in dramatic construction. The notable
changes in the narrative structure in the modern script are the elaborate introductions of human
characters. These narratives have the names of characters borrowed from Kenyan communitie
long introduction before the inciting action.
Within the traditional setting there were conditions and an atmosphere that favoured the
performance of the oral narrative. These conditions include a set time that was inbuilt within the
social systems thus making it possible for most members of the community to participate in the
occasion. The onus of narration was placed on the elder members of the community who were
regarded with respect and could therefore easily manage their audience. The narratives have
familiar images that can be interpreted by the audience since they emanated from their own
environment. The performance space, whether around the bonfire or during a burial ceremony,
was considered a conducive and favorable context for the performance of the oral narrative. The
performers operated within a realm understood by the audience as the performance conventions
of the Bukusu community.
The study further notes that the modern narrator performs without the added advantage of a
familiar audience. Some professional performers have mainly utilized the traditional narrative,
albeit, with minimal modification to suit their purpose. They have also restructured the
performance spaces in order to increase the level of intimacy in an atmosphere where modern
built theatres create a lot of formality and distancing. The drama festival on its part has made use
of the stage audience in order to recapture the traditional context which, when strictly applied,
denies the actual audience full participation. They have however moved away from animal
characters but borrowed names of the animal characters to enrich the symbolic representation of
the human characters. Indeed the festival has blended new wine with the old wine in order to
carry the tradition of oral narration from the fireside to the stage. | en_US |
