The Discursive Construction of Kenyan Ethnicities in Online Political Talk
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THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF KENYAN ETHNICITIES IN ONLINE POLITICAL TALK EVANS ANYONA ONDIGI A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE. SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR ZANNIE BOCK MARCH 2019 i http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ KEY WORDS Discourse Kenya Ethnicity Politics Ethnic polarisation Media Facebook Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Engagement Face-work ii http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ ABSTRACT Multi-paradigmatically qualitative, and largely in the fashion of the critical theory, this study seeks to explore how a selection of Kenyans construct, manipulate and negotiate ethnic categories in a discussion of national politics on two Facebook sites over a period of fourteen and a half months, at the time of the 2013 national elections. Kenya has at least 42 ethnic communities, and has been described as a hotbed of ethnic polarisation. The study is interested in how the participants use language to position themselves and others in relation to ethnicity, as well as to draw on or make reference to notions of Kenyan nationalism. The data for this study is drawn from Facebook discussions on two different groups: one ‘open’ and one ‘closed’. The data also includes participants from different ethnic groups and political leanings. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Engagement and Face-work are used as theoretical frameworks to explore how participants draw on different discourses to construct their ethnicities and position themselves as Kenyan nationals. The analysis also explores how informants expand and contract the dialogic space, as well as how they perform face-work during these interactions. CDA is important since the study examines ways in which participants participate in societal struggles through discourse, as either effectively supporting, sustaining, reproducing or challenging the status quo or power imbalances, especially as members of particular ethnic groups. The theory of Engagement is also important for the study since it helps explain how participants source their value positions and align each other as they open up or close down the dialogic space in their arguments or discussions. The notion of Face-work is used as an important complement to Engagement to further explore the nature of interaction between participants. The data has been analysed in two main ways: linguistically and thematically. The linguistic analysis generally reveals that the participants in the closed group paid much more attention to face-work, and used both expansive and contractive resources of Engagement almost in equal measure, while their open group counterparts tended more towards contractive resources and paid less attention to face-work. The interactions of both groups, however, point to the existing ethno-political mobilisation and polarisation in the country. The study also teases out several extra discursive strategies which it proposes for consideration as possible add-ons to the Engagement framework. Lastly, the thematic analysis reveals new important ways through which participants conceive ethnicity, especially as constituting interethnic relations. iii http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ DECLARATION I declare that the Discursive Construction of Kenyan Ethnicities in online Political Talk is my own work, that it has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Evans Anyona Ondigi Signed March 2019 iv http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am happy to acknowledge the fact that this milestone of a thesis happened thanks to concerted efforts from many wonderful people. I cannot have been a magician to be solely responsible for this thesis! By this token, let me take this delightful opportunity to thank some of these rare people, who have had either a direct or indirect hand in the fruition of this thesis. May God bless all these people abundantly. First of all, of course, I cannot thank my supervisor, Professor Zannie Bock, enough. And, you see, Prof, my journey with you, in which you have steadfastly held my hand, did not start with my PhD. You saw me through Masters first, with a Cum Laude! Then, you ushered me into PhD! Now, look! I am getting my PhD! Thank you for all the knowledge you have always imparted in me, from when you lectured me in Discourse Analysis. Thank you for all the reading materials you have supplied me with. Thank you for your kindness, guidance, devotion, counsel, forbearance and encouragement. Thank you for all the funds you availed to me! I cannot mention everything you have done to make me settle and learn here. Secondly, I would want to thank all my colleagues in the Linguistics Department for their support. However, special mention is in order. The Head of Department, Professor Antia Bassey, thank you very much for your inspirational leadership! Thank you for your humility, responsiveness, thoughtfulness, fresh appreciation of things and wise counsel. You have always been available to give advice, academically, administratively and socially. Professor Felix Banda, thank you very much for your academic and financial support. As my lecturer, you encouraged me to do an extra module, Cross and Inter-cultural Communication, which you also helped me to register for by funding me. You also encouraged me, declaring that I would graduate with a PhD. That is where I am now! I also would like to thank my ever- devoted Formal Linguistics lecturer, Dr Ntombizodwa Dlayedwa. Look, you helped teach me how to fly! I also have to thank my office-mate for so many years, Dr Lynn Mafofo. Thank you for your advice and encouragement. Thank you for allowing our little office to be cluttered with my books! Let me also thank these two other very important people in the department: the Administrator, Ms Berneshia February, and the Marks Administrator, Ms Nathalie Hattingh. Thank you very much for your unending kindness, concern and support. I am not done thanking people; I am one lucky person to have so many guardian angels! The fact that I have been a victim of brutal stabbing, in 2013, but managed to prevail, is testament v http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ to that. That is why I send my heartfelt gratitude to the doctor who resuscitated me. It is still unbelievable how you snatched me from the jaws of death! I also thank the police officers who were then working at the Delft Police Station, Cape Town. To save my life, which was surely ebbing away, you quickly put me in the police van and rushed me to the hospital. It would be remiss of me not to mention the lady who came to scene and started praying to God, asking that I make it. As this lady prayed for me, the police officers I have already mentioned above arrived at the scene and rushed me to hospital! I strongly believe that God sent the lady to be my angel. That was a revelation of God’s might! Lord, may you bless this lady abundantly. Again, I thank the people from the Linguistics Department and the Arts Faculty who prayed for me, visited me and wished me quick recovery. Professor Zannie Bock and Professor Herman Wittenberg, thank you for putting me up in your house for the weekend, when I got discharged from the hospital. You enhanced my recovery, and I enjoyed staying at yours: the food, the wine and the stories. That is why I never wanted to leave. You and your children are a very wonderful family. Professor Herman, thank you again for your comments on the drafts in my several chapters. Let me also thank such good friends as Dr Thomas Ombati, Mr Jackson Kambaragye, Dr Conrad Bosire, Dr Sarah, Dr James Njenga and Ms Tauhieda Brandt for taking care of me in the wake of this attack, up to the time of my recovery. I would also like to thank the Director of Residential Administration, Mr Mark Searle. Thank you, sir, for your unending compassion for me, as a student staying on the university residence. The same goes for Ms Ross Gwendoline, the Coordinator of Eduardo Dos Santos Residence. Thank you, Josephat Rotich and Riziki, for assisting me with academic materials and advice with regard to the compilation of this thesis. I also thank all my other fellow students and friends, including Mzulungile Gaqa, David Ajoge, Xolisa Mtiki, Adebiyi Babatope, Joseph Mayala Nsingi, Fritz, Mohamed Hassan, Romano, Abraham Udodong and Mohamed Sanousi. And, very importantly, I thank my parents, Robert Ondigi Karani and Peninah Kemunto Ondigi. Thank you for the good upbringing, unconditional love and care, which includes taking me to the best learning institutions, both in Kenya and South Africa. Indeed, there is no investment bigger than education, both formal and informal. I also thank all my siblings, Justus Onyango Ondigi, Stella Kwamboka Ondigi, Linet Kerubo Ondigi, Christopher Makora Ondigi, Alice Moraa Ondigi and Benjamin Obano Ondigi. You have also always been there for me, unconditionally too. To my elder brother, Onyango: were it not for your application and follow- up, I would not have come to South Africa to study! Thank you for your devotion. vi http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ Lastly, but again most importantly, I have to thank you, God the Almighty, for the life you have given me and all the people you have given me, so that I can prosper. Thank you for your blessings in abundance, protection and endless love. I pray that you humble me and enable me to use what you have given me in order to make this world a better place. vii http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my late paternal grandfather, Mr Karani Makora Ondigi.