Textualizing Masculinity: Discourses of Power and Gender Relations in Manguliechi’S Babukusu After- Burial Oratory Performance (Khuswala Kumuse)
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Textualizing Masculinity: Discourses of Power and Gender Relations in Manguliechi’s Babukusu After- Burial Oratory Performance (khuswala kumuse) Chrispinus J.C Wasike A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, 2013 Declaration I declare that this is my own unaided work submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand for the fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy degree. It has not been submitted before for examination in any other university. Signature__________________Date___________________ Chris J.C. Wasike Student number 0706248k Johannesburg, 2013 ii Abstract This study is a reading of khuswala kumuse (funeral oratory) among the Bukusu from the perspective of contemporary theories of masculinity and gender relations. Funeral oratory performance is an age-old practice performed on the third day after burial (lufu), of honoured males from clans that enjoy respect from other clans because of their leadership qualities. The thesis is about the performances of John Wanyonyi Manguliechi. Focusing on his unique personality and creative oral skills as a performer, the thesis seeks to demonstrate Manguliechi’s artistic contribution to a venerated tradition. This study benefits from ethnography and fieldwork as methods of literary research in order to interrogate concerns of gender, power discourses and performance in a traditional oral text. The study focuses on pre-recorded texts of Manguliechi and critically analyzes them through the prism of masculinity, gender and power discourse. Specifically, our analysis employs masculinity and gender relations theories to study circumcision, ethnicity and elements of power discourses in Manguliechi’s funeral oratories. The notion of ‘textualizing masculinity’ in this study refers to the various ways of being a man as highlighted by Manguliechi in his recitals. The study examines the funeral oratory as a cultural discourse shaped by masculine nuances and an oral literary genre laden with multiple images of power discourses and gender relations. In the Bukusu parlance, ‘khuswala kumuse’ connotes rhetorical excellence, and the genre represents the most elaborate and creative verbal expression. Thus, persuasive public speech is a much- vaunted art form in the community and any man whose oratory skills demonstrate good rhetoric and eloquence is held in the utmost esteem. In this study we argue that although Manguliechi’s performances are essentially funeral rituals, his recitals are rare examples of rhetorical genius with highly expressive and idiomatic creativity that can be subjected to literary analysis. The study interrogates the interfaces between the textual and thematic concerns of Manguliechi’s kumuse renditions on the one hand and the masculine gender constructions and power imaginations within the same texts. iii Dedication This work is dedicated to my wife Angela, son Shaka Marcus and little daughter Ivannah Sibongile whose patience and resilience made it possible for me to burn the midnight oil as I ploughed heaps and stacks of research material for my work and braved long nights of loneliness away from home. In memory of my late mother Sabina Musindalo who taught me the virtues of hard work and patience but couldn’t live long enough to see the fruits of her wise counsel; a celebration of my father Julius Charles Wasike who initiated me through the first baby steps of acquiring education and has continuously re-educated me on virtues of ‘eating with elders’. Last but not least, this work is in recognition of the late John Wanyonyi Manguliechi, ‘Omukasa, Omukambisi, Omukayi’ (elder, counsellor and peacemaker), for his immeasurable nuggets of wisdom and invaluable repertoire of Bukusu cultural knowledge systems which I was so fortunate to tap from before his untimely death. iv Acknowledgements The nature of many intellectual projects of this kind entails many hours of solitude and endless moments of reflection which can often be physically and emotionally draining. Special thanks go to my supervisor Prof. Isabel Hofmeyr, not just for her valuable and persistent mentoring and guidance without which this work would have been possible, but for her untiring and humbling gestures of encouragement, mothering and motherliness during moments of extreme difficulty. In Lubukusu we say, “Orio muno mayi, Wele akhutase chikhabi koo! I would also like to extend my gratitude to the University of Witwatersrand for offering me a chance to do my PhD programme and offering me the Postgraduate Merit Award and Andrew Mellon bursary which sustained me throughout the period I undertook my studies. Special thanks to my friend Ken Otwombe for initially helping me navigate the intimidating walls and gates around Wits and the city of Jo’burg; to Prof. Dan Ojwang for welcoming me to the department on my first day at Wits; Prof. James Ogude for the constant fatherly reminders and enquiries on the progress of my work and Merle Govind for never tiring to extend small and big favours and every little vital information at the Department of African Literature. I am also grateful to Masinde Muliro University for offering me paid leave to pursue my studies away from home and for the continued support throughout the period of my programme. To all my friends including Joy Omwoha, Dokotela Nancy Abuya, Jennifer Musangi, Chris Ouma, Joachim Wafula, Kennedy Aduda, Jacob Mati and Edwin Mosoti thanks so much for the support guys. Special thanks to Prof. C.J. Odhiambo for being a ‘special friend’ and mentor in many ways than I could imagine. To all those who assisted me in one way or another during my fieldwork, I say, “Thank you so much”. I am particularly indebted to my friend Kimingichi Wabende, Julie Mayeku, Bob Wekesa and Dr. Bob Mbori whose support during my data collection was most invaluable and was much appreciated. Many thanks go to Mwalimu Ben Lubisia for his diligence during my fieldwork, Mzee Joseph Wanjala for his illuminating chats and all my other informants. To the late Omusakhulu Manguliechi (my key oral artist), many thanks for the countless sessions which were most illuminating and this work is hopefully the best way I can thank you, posthumously, for all that you did for me. The most special thanks though go to my wife Angela and son Marcus for their unparalleled support and patience as they braved many days and nights of my absence. To little Ivannah Sibongile the new bundle of joy, all this hardwork was not in vain. v Parts of this thesis have been published elsewhere as book chapters and journal articles. Sections of Chapter Five have been published in a shortened book chapter titled, “(Re) configuring the Soloist as a ‘Nomadic’ Modernity Trickster: The Case of Composer in Bukusu Circumcision Folklore”, in Ganesh. N. Devy, Geoffrey. V. Davis and V.V.Chakravarty (Eds).2013. Narrating Nomadism: Tales of Recovery and Resistance, New Delhi: Routledge and also as “Metaphors of Fertility, Phallic Anxieties and Expiation of Grief in Babukusu Funeral Oratory”, in Ganesh. D. Devy, Geoffrey.V. Davis and V.V.Chakravarty (Eds). Knowing Differently; Cultures in Transition, New Delhi: Routledge (2013). I am indebted to my supervisor Prof. Isabel Hofmeyr for extending funds that enabled me to attend the CHOTRO II, 2009, and CHOTRO III, 2010 conferences held in Delhi University, India at which the first drafts of two papers mentioned above were initially presented. I also thank Dr. Ganesh Devy and Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Davis, the conveners of CHOTRO conference for reviewing and accepting to publish both papers in two different essay collections. A shortened version of Chapter Six appears as an article in the Egerton Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Volume VIII, 2009 under the title, “‘A Bull Dies with Grass in its Mouth’: Performing Memory, Masculinity and Ethnic Nationalism in Babukusu After-Burial Oratory”, and an abridged version of Chapter Two is published as a journal article in the Journal of Black and African Arts and Civilization Vol. 5 No.1, January 2011 under the title “Masculinity, Memory and Oral History: Examples from the Babukusu Funeral Performance in Kenya”. Parts of Chapter Four of this thesis are published as a book chapter titled “‘Chewing Words until they are Soft’: Narrating Memory, Masculinities and Oral History in Bukusu After-Burial Verbal Art”, in Makokha, J.K.S Dipio Dominica et al (2011) East African Literature; Essays on Written and Oral Traditions Berlin: Logo Verlag Berlin GmbH. I confirm that I hold the copyrights for all the essays, but appreciate and acknowledge all those who in one way or another facilitated the publication of the essays and book chapters. vi Note on Translation and Fieldwork All the translations from Lubukusu language to English are mine - I am competent in both languages. Despite the common challenges that face any form of translation process, I tried as much as possible to surmount them by using the closest English equivalent of every Bukusu word. However, I take full responsibility for all the meanings gleaned from the translations and any typographical errors in this work. During the course of the fourteen months of fieldwork, I collected and recorded six khuswala kumuse performance texts and undertook 15 interviews. All interviewees and their brief biographical sketches are listed as Appendix 4 at the end of the thesis. In Appendix 2, I have included Lubukusu transcriptions and English translations