Narrating The Self And Nation In Kenyan Autobiographical Writings

Author Samuel Ndogo offers an understanding of the autobiographical genre in contemporary Kenyan literature. He draws attention to life-writing as a form of cultural re-imagination in post-colonial Africa. Taking into consideration contradictions and paradoxes of referentiality in life writing, this book examines the autobiographies of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Wangari Maathai, and Bethwell Ogot. The analysis dwells on self-representations in correlation with imaginations of the 'Kenyan nation' in these works. Thus, the study gives a critical account into the modern memoir: the forms and styles it takes, the ways in which these authors tend to understand and present their lives. (Series: Contributions to African Research / Beitr�¤ge zur Afrikaforschung, Vol. 63) [Subject: African Studies, Literary Criticism]����

This book is about interactions in the funeral context among the Bukusu people of Kenya that brings together many religions. The author describes and accounts for hybridity as it is revealed by communicative techniques used by the priest and the comforter in the two communicative genres-the sermon and the traditional public comforting-that belong to the Christian and the Traditional Bukusu religions respectively. By approaching the co-existence of the two religions from a linguistic perspective, the study aims at ascertaining the relationship between the two religions. Dissertation. (Series: Contributions to Africa Research / Beitr�¤ge zur Afrikaforschung, Vol. 84) [Subject: Anthropology, African Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology]

On a quest to satisfy the need for acoustic documentation of pronunciation norms of Standard Kenyan English, there were predominant deviations which identify users of Ethnically Marked Varieties of Kenyan English. The study documents findings on tenets of Ethnic Markedness by two groups that revealed maximally distinct pronunciation. Data collection and analysis encompassed systematic recording, annotation and acoustic scrutiny. Moreover, attitudes that other Kenyans hold toward the selected varieties are exposed. The study is a primary source in the genres of World Englishes, speech science, prosody and interlanguage pronunciation.

"The study investigates how Muslim religious specialists (fuqarâ, sing. fakî) acquire Qur'anic knowledge in the context of the 'communities of practice'. It contextualises the Qur'anic schools of Jebel Marra in the Sudan arguing that the fuqarâ increase their access to knowledge of the Qur'an by socially interacting with each other. The book is grounded in a[n] ethnographic study of Qur'anic memorisation and activities that the fuqarâ perform after graduation from Qur'anic schools. It thus provides a fresh perspective to Islamic learning and epistemology. 'The great value of the study lies in the author's reconstruction of the practices and techniques, cognitive and corporeal, which are systematically employed to memorise the whole of the Qur'an.'"--Page 4 of cover.

Tracks and Traces of Violence explores the social conditions, political contexts, and cultural spaces of violence in Africa. It is comprised of accounts that underpin the visible and hidden 'tracks and traces' of violence in the memories of traumatized individuals and groups. It also interrogates the gaps, silences, and vacuities of/in these memories, as well as the role they play in shaping the facial contours of our modern societies. Weaving together views from literature, anthropology, art, cultural studies, and museum studies, this book provides deeper insight into the meanings of violent socialities, spatialities, and temporalities, as well as into how they materialize in poetry, fiction, art, and popular culture. (Series: Contributions to African Research / Beitrage zur Afrikaforschung, Vol. 80) [Subject: African Studies, Sociology, Art, Literature, Anthropology]

Following debates on urban policy-mobilities and -learning in Human Geographies the dissertation takes the example of Kigali's masterplan to show how aspirations of Rwandan and Singaporean policy-makers are transformed into concrete urban planning interactions. It provides a close analysis of the practices behind the mobilization of spatial planning expertise. The dissertation traces how planning approaches and regulations are mediated within the interaction between Singaporean and Rwandan actors and ultimately take shape in Kigali's urban space.

This book explores the conceptual and practical implications of applying a relational view to cultural complexity. The authors take the findings of an international and interdisciplinary Delphi study on transcultural competence as a starting point and offer further analysis and interpretation from their specific perspectives. Written by experts from a variety of disciplines, the book discusses the potential contributions of a relational approach to understanding and strengthening individuals and organizations in their contexts. Through various conceptual chapters, case studies and field reports, it explores the role and nature of commonalities for cooperation in contexts of cultural complexity and discusses the relationship between differences and commonalities, as well as the implications for relational leadership and management. The book is divided into four parts, the first of which introduces readers to the relational view. In turn, the second part elaborates on transcultural competence, while the third presents various case studies and field reports on experience-based learning and relationality in culturally complex settings. Finally, the fourth part sheds new light on relational leadership and the role of commonalities in organizational practice. As such, this book will appeal to scholars and practitioners in the areas of cultural and relational economics, intercultural communication, business strategy and leadership, and organizational studies.

This book examines the complexities of women’s lives in Africa and the transnational spaces of Europe and North America through the literary works of key African women writers. Using a postcolonial analytical framework, the book highlights the commonalities of African women’s identities and experiences across national, ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries in Africa and in western settings. It collates the multi-regional narratives of key African women writers who convey how women’s lives are shaped by social, economic, and political factors at home and abroad. It also illustrates the intersection of ethnicity, class, and gender that flows through all the texts examined. Unlike existing works that explore African women’s fiction, this book uncovers the transformation from postcolonial themes of nationhood to global modalities of post-independence writing through the lens of gender. The book engages with feminist expression through broad themes including religion, war and ethnic conflict, women’s status in society, tradition and modernity and local and global tensions. A unique approach to literary criticism of Anglophone African women’s writing, this book will be of interest to scholars and students in the field of African Literature, African Studies, Women’s Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Cultural and Ethnic Studies and Migration and Diaspora Studies.