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Narrating Kenyan History Through Fiction in Yvonne Owuor's Dust

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Narrating Kenyan History Through Fiction in Yvonne Owuor's Dust NARRATING KENYAN HISTORY THROUGH FICTION IN YVONNE OWUOR’S DUST BOIYO AMOS BURKEYWO A Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Literature, University of Nairobi 2015 ii DEDICATION Njeri Burkeywo: Thanks my love for the moral support and prayers. My daughter Joy Tiliil: For your incessant laughter and interruptions. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Tom Odhiambo and Dr. Miriam Musonye for their invaluable supervision, commitment and support throughout the writing of my thesis. I am grateful for the time you spent reading and discussing drafts, and for the reading material you gave me. Thank you for your immense scholarly advice. I extend my thanks to Prof. Peter Wasamba, Prof. Henry Indangasi, Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, Prof. Ciarunji Chesaina, Prof. D. H. Kiiru, Prof. Alina Rinkanya, Dr. Masumi Odari, Dr. Jennifer Muchiri, Dr. Alex Wanjala, Dr. Makau Kitata and Dr. Wabende Kimingichi for their support in the course of my studies. I am also grateful to my friends and classmates for their moral and material support in the course of this research. Thanks to Erick Naibei, David Wafula, Daniel Obala, Jenipher Otieno, Jackie Ojiambo, Patrick Makokha, Peter Odongo, Kevin Mosigisi, Susan Kavaya, Mugo Gichobi, Justus Kemboi, Ludwick Ongeti, Linda Ouma and Esther Nengo. My sincere appreciation goes to the University of Nairobi through the Department of Literature for awarding me a scholarship that paid for my studies. Lastly, my heart-felt appreciation goes to God for guaranteeing me good health, grace and strength to undertake my studies. iv CONTENTS DECLARATION......................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION............................................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... iv CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ........................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................................................... 6 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................................... 8 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Justification ............................................................................................................................................... 9 Scope and Limitation .............................................................................................................................. 10 Literature Review .................................................................................................................................... 10 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................... 19 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER TWO: INTERSECTION OF HISTORY AND FICTION .............................................. 23 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 23 History and Fiction: Critical Issues ......................................................................................................... 23 Historical Context ................................................................................................................................... 26 Case for Repressed Stories ...................................................................................................................... 30 Colonial and Post-colonial Violence in the State .................................................................................... 32 Narrating Corruption ............................................................................................................................... 44 Nationalism and Disillusionment ............................................................................................................ 48 Political Assassinations ........................................................................................................................... 53 Alienation in Post-colonial Kenya .......................................................................................................... 59 Election Violence and Contestation over belonging in Kenya ............................................................... 61 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 65 v CHAPTER THREE: EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTED ASPECTS OF NARRATOLOGY IN NARRATING STORIES ON THE MARGIN ....................................................................................... 67 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 67 Narrative Order and the Storyteller in Dust ............................................................................................ 68 Significance of Memory in Narrating Silenced Stories .......................................................................... 76 Narrative Speed ....................................................................................................................................... 79 Scene and Summary ................................................................................................................................ 81 Narrative Instance ................................................................................................................................... 86 Time of Narration ................................................................................................................................... 93 Narrative Perspective .............................................................................................................................. 95 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 97 CHAPTER FOUR ..................................................................................................................................... 98 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 98 WORKS CITED ...................................................................................................................................... 101 vi ABSTRACT Focusing on the intersection of history and fiction in Yvonne Owuor’s Dust (2014), this study discusses narration of Kenyan history through fiction by examining ‘fictionalised history.’ The study contends that fictionalised history challenges the publicly prevailing and dominant notions about a nation and provokes conversations and engagement with the ignored ‘other’ facets of the nation’s history. This is because fiction recollects past events and leaves one free to explore alternative stories untold in official history, particularly in the process of nation-state formation, but which the writer may re-call. Since fiction is significant in recollecting and re-interpreting past realities to make sense of the intricate events in a nation-state, Owuor fictionalises history to narrate stories on the margin of the Kenyan nation-state. By doing so, Owuor evokes the Kenyan past and mirrors the historical events to challenge public prevailing notions about the nation-state and reveal ignored facets of history based on violence, assassinations, corruption, nationalism and disillusionment. Therefore, this study argues that Dust underscores what official history suppresses, that is, the marginal ‘other’ personal stories that form part of the nation-state history. Owuor relies not only on facts but also on imagination to create a story that readers can relate to because it fills in the historical gaps in recorded historical realities in official history. vii CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Introduction The intersection of history and fiction is at the heart of any literary work that claims to attempt to re-create the past. A writer's manipulation of history and fiction plays an important role in the representation of histories of a nation-state. Noting the importance of the relationship
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