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Masculinity in Margaret Ogola's the River and The MASCULINITY IN MARGARET OGOLA’S THE RIVER AND THE SOURCE AND I SWEAR BY APOLLO ANNE ATIENO HAWALA A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School in Partial Fulfilment for the Requirements of the Award of Master of Arts in Literature of Chuka University CHUKA UNIVERSITY SEPTEMBER 2019 DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION ii COPYRIGHT ©2019 All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in retrieval or by any means electronic, mechanical, Photocopy, recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the author or Chuka University. iii DEDICATION To my late father, Augustine Odhiambo Warinda. You were and will always remain an incredible inspiration. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I thank the Almighty God for giving me the gift of life and health to survive the rigorous period of my study. I am grateful to my supervisors Prof. Zachary Njogu Waita and Prof. Colomba Kaburi Muriungi for their advice that has led to the realization of this work. I have managed to reach this far not only through their honest criticism and evaluation but also through their patience, persistence, commitment and encouragement. Secondly, I would like to thank them for being my dedicated lecturers. Their lessons were an eye-opener to literary scholarship. May God bless you abundantly. I would also like to recognise the assistance of my classmates in the M.A class: Doris Kawira, Mary Ngari, Peter Ireri, Caroline Riungu, Mary Makena, Doris Mururu and Dorcas Ikiugu. The many discussions we had aided in sharpening my critical literary skills. I thank my husband Dr. Hawala for being there for me during the time of my study. To my sons and daughters: Paul, Eustine, Steve, Bentah and Beryl may God bless you for allowing me time to work on my academics at your expense. I am particularly grateful to Bentah, Eustine and Steve who helped me in improving my computer skills. I am grateful to the principal of Kajiunduthi High School, Mr Kirimi Rachi for granting me permission whenever I was required at the University and his predecessor Mr Nimrod Kimathi for encouraging me to go back to further my education. To my friend and former colleague Dr. Atieno Rugendo, I thank you for the moral support that encouraged me to fight on even in the face of the many setbacks. I also thank Dr. Adhiambo Christine from The University of Nairobi and Mrs. Omondi Pamela of Kenyatta University for the support they gave me during my research. Lastly, to Chuka University, I say thanks for the opportunity granted to me in order to undertake my Masters degree. v ABSTRACT There has been extensive literary research on gender in Kenya and Africa in general. A lot of these literary scholarships has tended to ignore male characters by concentrating on highlighting the woman and her struggle for emancipation from male dominance which has relegated the male character to the periphery. The research has attempted to fill this gap by exploring patriarchal expectation of masculinity and masculinity transformation in Margaret Ogola’s The River and the Source and I Swear by Apollo. It has been guided by two objectives: To interrogate traditional conception of masculinity and to examine how Ogola represents the transformation of masculinities in these texts. Hegemonic masculinity and African feminism theories have been used, whereby Conservative hegemonic masculinity enhanced understanding of the society’s view and expectation of the male gender as dictated by traditions and culture that perpetuate patriarchy while the reformed hegemonic masculinity aided in distinguishing men who have embraced changes. African feminism helped in the need to consider universal conditions that the African man and woman have experienced other than concentrating only on gender issues. The literature review showed the importance of the research because it revealed that the male gender has often been viewed universally as the oppressor of the woman resulting to her subsequent subjugation that leads to the men being undermined and stereotyped by society. Qualitative research design has been used to elicit response and understanding of research area. Whereby an in-depth analysis of the primary texts has been done to show how Ogola has presented her male characters in order to determine the various constructions of masculinities. The data from the primary texts has been analysed as per the stated objectives. The study is encased in six chapters. Chapter one includes background to the study that highlights the problem, objectives of the study and research questions. Literature review and theoretical framework are in chapter two and methodology and ethical considerations in chapter three. Figuring of traditional conception has been interrogated in chapter four while subverted masculinity discussed in chapter five. The findings in chapter six have shown that traditional conception of masculinity yielded idealization of the male gender while some men conformed to patriarchal expectations; a move that resulted to their entrapment. The presence of feminine men has also been noted. Subverted masculinity discussion has exhibited men who have no patriarchal tendencies, men releasing power at different levels and men who either fully or partially support women. Recommendation for further research on discourse of language as a literary tool in masculinity transformation and use of style to implement change in society’s perception of the male gender in texts studied were made. The research is important because it will augment debate on gender studies not only by literary scholars but also development partners on the importance of including men in gender discussions to enhance social growth and development. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION AND APPROVAL .......................................................................... ii COPYRIGHT ............................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION.............................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................ v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the Study ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................... 4 1.3 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................ 4 1.4 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................ 5 1.5 Research Questions .............................................................................................. 5 1.6 Justification of the Study ...................................................................................... 5 1.7 Scope of the Study................................................................................................ 5 1.8 Assumptions ......................................................................................................... 5 1.9 Operational Definition of Terms .......................................................................... 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................ 7 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Gender .................................................................................................................. 7 2.3 Causes of Women Subordination ....................................................................... 11 2.4 The Forgotten Gender ........................................................................................ 13 2.5 Complexities of Masculinity .............................................................................. 15 2.6 The Iconized Female Versus the Stereotyped Male ........................................... 20 2.7 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 30 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 30 3.2 Research Design ................................................................................................. 30 3.3 Methods of Data Collection ............................................................................... 30 3.4 Data Analysis and Presentation .......................................................................... 31 vii 3.5 Ethical Consideration ......................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER FOUR: THE FIGURING OF MASCULINITY IN OGOLA’S TEXTS ...................................................................................... 32 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 32 4.2 Masculinity: The Traditional Conception .........................................................
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