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Mythification of (B) Uganda in Jennifer Makumbi's Kintu

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Mythification of (B) Uganda in Jennifer Makumbi's Kintu (Re-)Mythification of (B) Uganda in Jennifer Makumbi’s Kintu Amolo, Joseph Kwanya M. A Research Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Literature University of Nairobi 2017 i DECLARATION This research project report is my original work and has not been submitted for examination or the award of a degree at any other institution. Candidate: Amolo, Joseph Kwanya M. C50/84178/2015 Signature…………………………………………Date……………………………. This research project report has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors: First Supervisor: Dr Tom Odhiambo Signature…………………………………… Date……………………………. Second Supervisor: Prof Wanjiku Mukabi Kabira Signature…………………………………… Date……………………………. ii DEDICATION To Mzee Barrack Adel, my siblings, and the memory of Milka iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my deep gratitude to the African Women‘s Studies Centre, University of Nairobi, especially its Director, Prof. Wanjiku Mukabi-Kabira, for the offer of a scholarship, which enabled me to complete my studies. I also extend special thanks to the Department of Literature, through Dr Masumi Odari, for recommending me for the scholarship. To my supervisors, Dr Tom Odhiambo and Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, I wish to express my indebtedness for your priceless suggestions and making available research material for this study. Your belief in my ability and patient guidance provided me with the impetus to complete the project. I am also grateful to the lecturers in the department for introducing me to diverse areas and viewpoints in academia: Prof. Kiiru, Prof. Indangasi, Prof. Wasamba, Dr Siundu, Dr Wanjala, Dr Musonye, Prof. Chesaina, Dr Outa, Dr Kimingichi and Dr Kitata. It is your dedicated teaching that provided me with the knowledge to carry out this research. I am especially grateful to Dr Jennifer Muchiri and Prof. Evan Mwangi for offering me rare texts and priceless suggestions in the early stages of this work. To my classmates—Dianaross, Ann, Lynda, Yoshi, Sam, Apindi, Howard, Godfrey, Julius, Mercy, Atem and Sifa—thanks for making this an exciting experience. Jacqueline Kosgey and Peter Odongo, thanks for reading drafts of this project and offering shrewd judgement and strong encouragement. Special thanks to Dr Tom Odhiambo for your mentorship. Your characteristic verve, generosity and unfailing kindness have been my pillars throughout my postgraduate studies. Ruoth omedi ndalo! iv CONTENTS DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... iv CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................................v ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................ vii DEFINITION OF TERMS ................................................................................................... viii Anachrony ........................................................................................................................... viii Analepse .............................................................................................................................. viii Myth .................................................................................................................................... viii Proplepse ............................................................................................................................. viii (Re-)Mythification ............................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ..........................................................................................1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .........................................................................................................4 Objectives ...............................................................................................................................5 Hypotheses ..............................................................................................................................6 Justification .............................................................................................................................6 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................7 Kintu Myth and the (B)Uganda Historiography ....................................................................8 Mythology and Modern African Fiction ............................................................................. 13 Critical Attention to the Novel ........................................................................................... 15 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................................... 18 Scope and Limitations ........................................................................................................... 21 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................... 23 RE-IMAGINING THE NATION: MYTH AS A LANGUAGE OF REGENERATION ..... 23 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 23 Time, Space and the Telling of Myths.................................................................................... 23 v Retelling Gender and Mythology in Uganda .......................................................................... 43 Myths, Westernization and Uganda ....................................................................................... 47 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 56 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 58 THE AFRICAN WOMAN AND THE (RE-)MAKING OF TRADITIONS ......................... 58 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 58 Pre-colonial Buganda Woman as Source of Power? ............................................................... 60 Kintu Curse: A Pained Woman‘s Wrath? ............................................................................... 68 Zaya and Princess Mazzi as Embodiments of Female Subversion .......................................... 73 Woman and Post-colonial Ambivalence to Traditions ............................................................ 79 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 89 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 90 WORKS CITED...................................................................................................................... 94 vi ABSTRACT This study is premised on the fact that myths offer writers a ready framework which they can exploit to imagine and reimagine the world. It examines the mythification and re-mythification of (B)Uganda through the myth of Kintu in Jennifer Makumbi‘s novel Kintu. I observe that the remythification of the Kintu story unveils ‗untruths‘ in the known myths and questions their legitimacy. Makumbi presents myths as ways of reaffirming a sense of belonging, whereby communities use their collective memories, create stories around them and choose which ones to believe in and to carry on into the future. Using a time-space continuum, I argue that the legitimacy of a story that offers itself as a myth is determined by the time that people have held such a story as truth and places where it is most likely revered. I link time and space to aspects of narratology such as narrative order, narrative speed and narrative instance, all of which aid Makumbi‘s plot of re-mythification by enabling her to connect Buganda‘s mythical past with the reality of post-colonial Uganda. This connection establishes the idea of a new nation-state, Uganda, where beliefs are like stories; people choose what to hold on to and what to discard, depending on their convenience. I argue that this ambivalent treatment of traditional beliefs by post-colonial Ugandans shows that even myths are only useful when they serve certain social, cultural and political ends. In addition, because men often use myths to advance patriarchy, Makumbi cleverly unsettles the myth of Kintu by presenting women as central to the construction and reconstruction of a modern nation. I argue that the ambivalence also leads to neo-traditionalists like Miisi
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