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Myths of Origin and Their Cultural Implications in the Tigania Community of Meru County

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Myths of Origin and Their Cultural Implications in the Tigania Community of Meru County MYTHS OF ORIGIN AND THEIR CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS IN THE TIGANIA COMMUNITY OF MERU COUNTY BY RUKUNGA MWAMUKUI PRISCILA, B.ED. C50/CE/11989/08 A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY MAY, 2019 ii DECLARATION iii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this work to my family –My loving husband Wilfred, my sons Nimo and Oliver and daughter Beryl. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to God for giving me health and strength to be able to undertake this work. I would like to extend my gratitude to my family members, especially my husband for encouraging me to soldier on, and to my mother who taught me how to speak my mother tongue, without which I would not have carried out this research. My special thanks to my supervisors, Dr Speranza Ndege and Dr. Wallace Mbugua for bearing with my many shortcomings. What initially looked like an impossible feat became easier for me to navigate through because of their humility and scholarly concern. I will forever be grateful to them. I appreciate the effort of Prof.Oluoch Obura and Dr. Paul Mukundi for guiding me to find the references I needed for this research. They taught me the value of networking with people who would later be helpful to my study. I am also grateful to the entire Isiolo Boys‟ teaching fraternity for giving me ample time to carry out my research. I recognize the input of my informants and story tellers who put in a lot of effort to ensure that I captured the stories well to be able to transcribe and translate them appropriately. My research assistant, without whose effort I would not have gone this far, was a constant companion who encouraged me a lot. v OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS Myth It is a tale which describes the foundations of social behaviour. It is mostly held to be a symbolic description of phenomena of nature and provides cultural solutions and answers to questions that human beings ask in real life. Para-linguistic A manner of communication which brings out a specific meaning and message that is not adequately captured in words. Paralinguistic elements are mainly culture specific. Rendition The act of narrating a composition as expressed in an artistic performance. Perceived Relatives These are people or a community in Tigania believed to be related not by blood or marriage but as a result of a cultural occurrence. Such peple are inculcated in the community as part of that community. Acculturation This is a cultural process in the Meru community of initiating a person into a community which he or she was not originally born into. It was a ceremony that involved mixing of blood between the „foreigner‟ and a representative of the clan he was to belong. vi ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS MT Myth LI Kimeru Language L2 English Language NKJV New King James Version vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... iv OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS .........................................................v ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .............................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................1 1.1 Background to the Study ....................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................4 1.3 Study Objectives ................................................................................................5 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................5 1.5 Study Assumptions ............................................................................................6 1.6 Significance and Justification of the study ........................................................6 1.7 Scope and Delimitation ......................................................................................7 1.8 Literature Review...............................................................................................8 1.9 Philosophical underpinnings of Myths ..............................................................8 1.10 Etiological Myth Rendition............................................................................12 1.11 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................20 1.12 Methodology ..................................................................................................24 1.13 Research design .............................................................................................24 1.14 Population and Sampling ...............................................................................24 1.15 Data Collection ..............................................................................................25 1.16 Data Analysis .................................................................................................26 viii CHAPTER TWO: TENETS OF MYTHS OF ORIGIN FROM THE TIGANIA COMMUNITY...................................................................................28 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................28 2.1.2 Myths are Cultural ........................................................................................29 2.1.3 Solution Oriented ..........................................................................................41 2.1.4 Chapter Summary .........................................................................................46 CHAPTER THREE: EFFECTIVENESS OF CHARACTER AND STYLE IN COMMUNICATING MYTHS OF ORIGIN IN THE TIGANIA COMMUNITY .....................................................................................................47 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................47 3.1.1 Duties and Responsibilities ...........................................................................49 3.1.2 Stereotypes, Vocatives and conventions .......................................................58 3.1.3 Language and Style .......................................................................................68 3.1.4 Chapter Summary .........................................................................................91 CHAPTER FOUR: RELEVANCE OF MYTHS OF ORIGIN IN THE TIGANIA COMMUNITY...................................................................................92 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................92 4.1.1 Character Formation and Building................................................................93 4.1.2 Education ......................................................................................................98 4.1.3 Religion and culture ....................................................................................105 4.1.4 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................114 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .....................................................................................115 5.1 Summary and conclusion ...............................................................................115 5.2 Findings..........................................................................................................116 ix 5.3 Recommendation for further study ................................................................117 WORKS CITED.................................................................................................118 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................122 Appendix I: Ngono Cia Kaumo Cia Kimeru .......................................................122 Appendix II: Translation of Tigania Myths of Origin .........................................136 Appendix III: Glosary of Terms ..........................................................................158 Appendix IV: Interview Schedule with key informants ......................................160 Appendix V: Research Authorization ..................................................................162 Appendix VI: NACOSTI Research Permit ..........................................................164 x ABSTRACT This study seeks to examine mythology in six selected myths of origin from the Tigania community of Meru County. Myths of origin in this study refer to all kinds of prose narratives including ordinary animal tales and stories of people. These tales are sacred and religious in nature while mythical characters are believed to be characters or beings that once lived when gods used to live on earth. Mythical characters are regarded as half men and half gods who would also be heroic in nature or founders of the tribes from which they hailed.
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