i SOCIETAL CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY AS PORTRAYED IN KIRUNDI PROVERBS BY SPES NIBAFASHA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LITERATURE OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY JUNE 2013 i DECLARATION ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION................................................................................................................ i ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... vii DEDICATION................................................................................................................ viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ ix LIST OF PICTURES ....................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Introduction and background to the study ................................................................... 1 1.2. Background to the study .............................................................................................. 3 1.2. 1.Geographical background ......................................................................................... 4 1.2.2. Marriage and household structure ............................................................................. 6 1.2.3. Bringing up children ................................................................................................. 7 1.2.4. Customs of Barundi .................................................................................................. 9 1.2.5. Historical-political set up ........................................................................................ 10 1.2.5.1. The woman and Burundian tradition ................................................................... 10 1.2.5.2. The woman and the republican governments ...................................................... 13 1.2.5.3. The woman and pluralist democracy ................................................................... 15 1.2.5.4 .The woman and negotiations for peace ............................................................... 15 1.3. Statement of the problem ........................................................................................... 17 1.4. Objectives of the study............................................................................................... 18 1.4.1. General objective .................................................................................................... 18 1.4.2. Specific objectives .................................................................................................. 18 iii 1.5. Hypothesis.................................................................................................................. 18 1.6. Scope and delimitations ............................................................................................. 19 1.7. Definition of key terms .............................................................................................. 19 1.8. Review of Literature .................................................................................................. 21 1.8.1. Works on proverbs .................................................................................................. 21 1.8.2. Works on Kirundi oral literature ............................................................................. 28 1.9. Significance of the study ............................................................................................ 31 1.10. Theoretical framework ............................................................................................. 32 1.10.1. Background to the framework .............................................................................. 32 1.10.2. Social construction of gender as framework of the present study ........................ 39 1.11. Methodology ............................................................................................................ 42 1.11. 1. Field Research ...................................................................................................... 43 1.11.2. Techniques of data collection ............................................................................... 44 1.11.2.1. Note-taking ........................................................................................................ 44 1.11.2.2. Audio-recording of interviews ........................................................................... 45 1.11.2.3. Observations ...................................................................................................... 45 1.11.2.4. Photography ....................................................................................................... 46 1.11.3. Techniques of data analysis .................................................................................. 46 1.12. Encountered constraints ........................................................................................... 48 1.13. Chapter outline ......................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................ 50 NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF THE KIRUNDI PROVERB ............................... 50 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 50 iv 2.2. Proverbs and oral society ........................................................................................... 50 2.3. Artistic and stylistic qualities of Kirundi proverbs .................................................... 61 2.3.1. Tone ........................................................................................................................ 63 2.3.2. Tonality ................................................................................................................... 64 2.3.3. Alliteration and assonance ...................................................................................... 65 2.3.4. Imagery ................................................................................................................... 66 2.3.5. Parallelism............................................................................................................... 70 2.3.6. Paradox ................................................................................................................... 71 2.3.7. Allusion ................................................................................................................... 72 2.3.8. Symbolism .............................................................................................................. 73 2.3.9. Repetition ................................................................................................................ 74 2.4. Textual structure of Kirundi proverbs........................................................................ 75 2. 5. Linguistic and literary identity ................................................................................. 79 2.6. Social contexts of Kirundi proverbs .......................................................................... 82 2.7. Social function of proverbs ........................................................................................ 85 2.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 87 CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 90 FEMININE AND MASCULINE CONSTRUCTS IN KIRUNDI PROVERBS ........ 90 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 90 3.2. The difference and relation between sex and gender ................................................. 91 3.3. Masculinity and femininity ........................................................................................ 93 3.4. Social roles of men and women in Burundi ............................................................. 100 3.5. The shadow of patriarchy through masculinity constructs ...................................... 106 v 3.5.1. The man as husband and head of family ............................................................... 106 3.5.2. The man as concentration of physical and moral strength .................................... 113 3.5.3. The man as a concentration of a certain economic strength and material abundance ......................................................................................................................................... 116 3.5.4 The man-Mushingantahe as ideal construct of masculinity ................................... 118 3. 5.5. The man’s abuse of power and its intolerance by society ................................... 124 3.6. Femininity constructs in the patriarchal order ......................................................... 129 3.6.1. The woman as wife and mother ............................................................................ 130 3.6.2. The woman as co-manager of the household .......................................................