Gender Issues Research Report Seires
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ISSN 1608-6295 Gender Issues Research Report Seires No. 23 Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa Gender Issues Research Report Series No. 23 Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa © 2006 Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) OSSREA acknowledges the support of the Ford Foundation, Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida/SAREC), Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD), The Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Published 2006 Printed in Ethiopia All rights reserved. Copy editors: Mesfin Adinew Abiye Daniel Text layout: Etalem Engeda Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa P. O. Box 31971, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: 251-11-1239484 Fax: 251-11-1223921 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ossrea.net OSSREA’s Research Report Series The Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) has been running two research competitions – the Social Science Research Grant Competition, since 1988, and the Gender Issues Research Grant Competition, since 1989. Winners of these competitions are required to submit their findings in the form of research reports. The Research Report Series presents papers selected from these reports and is intended to disseminate the results to a wider audience. The views expressed in the papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation. Contents 1. The Image of Women in African Oral Literature: A Case Study of Gikuyu Oral Literature Catherine M. Ndungo 1 2. Oral Narratives as an Ideological Weapon for Subordinating Women: The Case of Jimma Oromo Abraham Alemu 81 3. Gender-Friendly Human Resource Management and Organizational Commitment: A Study of Organizations in Uganda Matagi Leon 123 THE IMAGE OF WOMEN IN AFRICAN ORAL LITERATURE: A CASE STUDY OF GIKUYU ORAL LITERATURE Catherine M. Ndungo* 1. INTRODUCTION This study investigates the image of women as portrayed through oral literature in the Gikuyu society. Its aim is to find out whether there is a stereotypic view of women and how this view has been perpetuated through oral literature, specifically through the proverbs, narratives and songs. It will therefore concentrate on these genres of Gikuyu oral literature though they are by no means the only vehicles through which one can study the attitudes of a society towards women. Oral literature cannot be studied and analysed meaningfully outside the socio-cultural forces of the society that created it. This is because, like other vehicles of culture, they serve as carriers of a people’s culture and history. Nevertheless, in such a short report, it is impossible to present a comprehensive study of the socio-cultural forces of the Gikuyu society. Consequently, we should be content with a brief outline of the Gikuyu just before the break up of the traditional social organization through colonial conquest in the early 1900s. This conquest, as Muriuki (1974) observes, served as the beginning of a new era for the Gikuyu as a community: The end of 1904 marked the eventual defeat of the determined pockets of Kikuyu resistance to the establishment of British rule. By that date the elements that were to affect the development of the Kikuyu society in the twentieth century were beginning to emerge. This modernization weakened their traditional religion, beliefs and habits and culminated in a social upheaval . The manner in which the Kikuyu adjusted themselves to the problems and challenges of the new system of government, economy, religion and education were to become the key issues of their modern history (Muriuki 1974, 179). Though culture is not static, we will attempt to analyse oral literature in the cultural context of the period before the colonial conquest as mentioned above. We will also try to point out what implications such an analysis has on the modern Gikuyu society (the Gikuyu society after the colonial conquest and especially today). * Department of Kiswahili, Kenyatta University, P.O. BOX. 43844 00200, Nairobi, Kenya, E-mail [email protected] 2 Gender Issues Research Report Series, no. 23 1.1 Area of Study The research was carried out in Central Province of Kenya, the homeland of the Gikuyu people. The Gikuyu people occupy the Central Province and part of the Rift Valley. They are commonly referred to as Kikuyu. In the preface to Facing Mount Kenya, Kenyatta (1938) explained the appropriate spelling of the name “Kikuyu”: The usual European way of spelling this word is Kikuyu, which is incorrect; it should be Gikuyu, or in the strict phonetic spelling, Gekoyo. This form only refers to the country itself. A Gikuyu person is a Mu-Gikuyu; plural A-Gikuyu (Kenyatta 1938, XV). Central Province is divided into seven administrative districts, namely Nyeri, Murang'a, Kiambu, Nyandarua, Kirinyaga, the newly created Thika, and Maragwa. Kirinyaga, Thika, and Maragwa are new districts created as follows: Kirinyaga was carved from Embu district; Thika from Kiambu, and Maragwa from Murang'a districts respectively. It is noteworthy that Nyandarua district was created immediately after Kenya's independence in 1963. However, this study excludes Kirinyaga district, where the Ndia and Gichugu speakers are found, though some linguists regard them as Gikuyu speakers (cf. Mutahi 1977). Although we lack linguistic evidence, we feel that the exclusion is necessary because the varieties of Gikuyu spoken in Kirinyaga district would only hamper our progress as they are distinctly different from the varieties spoken in the other districts. According to the 1989 census, the Gikuyu numbered over three million. They make up the largest group of the North Eastern Bantu, a group that includes Gikuyu, Embu, Mbeere, and Kamba, among others. It is estimated that about five to six million people live in Central Province. Not all Gikuyu people live in Central Province. They inhabit other provinces as well. The majority of them settled especially in the Rift Valley Province, Nakuru and Laikipia Districts. The total Gikuyu population at present could be about six and a half million. 1.2 General Background 1.2.1 Physical Setting According to Muriuki (1978, 1), Gikuyu land is approximately 160 km from north to south and about 50 km from west to east. Its altitude ranges from about 1,200 metres to over 2,500 metres above sea level, and has many natural landmarks. To the north, it is dominated by Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya), which rises to 5,250 metres. To the west, the border of Kikuyu country follows the Kikuyu escarpment of the Rift Valley, and includes the Nyandarua or Aberdare Mountains. To the east and south the country can be said to end roughly at the Catherine M. Ndungo. The Image of Women in African Oral Literature 3 mountains the Kikuyu call Kianjahi (Ol Donyo Sabuk) and Kiambiruiru, the Ngong Hills (Muriuki 1978, 1-2). The Gikuyu people border the Maasai to the north and west. To the north- east, they are neighbours of the Meru: to the east lie the Ndia, Gichugu, Mbeere and Embu, and to the south-west, the Kamba. In the Gikuyu land, like in the rest of the country, there are two rainy seasons because of the effects of the south-east and north-east trade winds blowing from the Indian Ocean towards the equator. The long rains last from March to May, and the short rains from mid-October to December. Since Gikuyu land is in a high altitude, it receives a higher rainfall than the lowlands of Kenya. The Gikuyu, who are deeply attached to their land, are chiefly agriculturalists and their country is endowed with adequate rainfall and moderate temperature. Its deep-red volcanic soil is very productive. The main traditional food crops include bananas, sweet potatoes, yams, arum lily, millet, sorghum, and cowpeas. “Maize, which constitutes the staple food, was introduced only probably towards the end of the eighteenth or early nineteenth century” (Muriuki, 33). The Gikuyu also keep livestock, chiefly sheep, goats and cattle. 1.2.2 The Origin of the Gikuyu The Gikuyu people have not lived in Central Province for a long time. Like other illiterate communities, the Gikuyu do not have documented history. As noted by Muriuki (1974, 2), "faced with scarcity of written sources or even their non existence, historians have primarily relied on oral traditions for the reconstruction of African history." This approach of reconstructing a people's history has its own drawbacks. As a result, it has been argued that history can only arrive at probabilities but never at certainties (Muriuki 1974, 3). The beginnings of the Gikuyu are discussed in line with this view. There are two different accounts of their origin and history: one scientific (linguistic, historical, oral), and the other mythical. These two accounts are as follows. A study of Gikuyu language shows that it is akin to a group of related languages found around and near Mount Kenya. These are classified under the name Thagicu, which includes the Mbeere, Embu, Chuka, Mwimbi, Igoji, Tharaka, Igembe, Tigania, Meru, Kamba, and Gikuyu. Based on linguistic data, scholars, such as Ehret (1972), have noted that the name Thagicu was derived from the people called Thagicu who occupied the North-east, the east, and south sides of Mount Kenya. Today, only remnants of Thagicu are left, specifically in Tharaka and Mbeere areas. It is noteworthy that the Mavuria location of Mbeere is traditionally known as Thagicu (Muriuki 1974, 52). However, according to oral traditions, the Gikuyu have an earlier origin in the Igembe and Tigania areas of Meru District from where they migrated 4 Gender Issues Research Report Series, no. 23 south to Thagicu or Tharaka area (Muriuki 1974). The migration took place approximately in the middle of the fifteenth century (Muriuki 1974, 55).