POLITICAL IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM IN DANIEL OWINO MISIANI‟S BENGA SONGS BY JOSEPH OMONDI ONYOR A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LITERATURE, SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES MASENO UNIVERSITY ©2019 i DECLARATION Declaration by Candidate I declare that the work in this dissertation entitled, Political Imagery and Symbolism in Daniel Owino Misiani‟s Benga Songs, has been carried out by me in the Department of Literary Studies. The information derived from the literature has duly been acknowledged in the text and a list of references provided. No part of this thesis was previously presented for another degree or diploma at this or any other institution. Sign……………………… Date ………………………… Joseph Omondi Onyor PG/MA/012/2007 Declaration by Supervisors This thesis has been submitted with our approval as the university supervisors. Sign…………………………… Date………………………… Professor Kitche Magak Department of Literary Studies MASENO UNIVERSITY Sign………………….............. Date………………………… Professor Caleb Okumu Department of Literary Studies MASENO UNIVERSITY ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the invaluable guidance and countless insight of my very competent supervisors Prof. Kitche Magak and the late Professor Caleb Okumu, which facilitated the completion of my research work. I am also indebted to my friends and Maseno University colleagues for their generous support and encouragement. In particular I wish to thank Dr. James Ogone and Mr. Titus Kioko for peer review, challenging conversation and comments on the work. May I also thank Elisha Otieno of Tipo-Tipo Classic Music Studio for giving me free access to his studio of LP records thus allowing me to get into my hand some of Misiani‟s oldest records. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to the late Benga Maestro, the Grandfather of Benga, King of History, Daniel Owino Misiani who has inspired this study. I also dedicate this work to my mentor, my late sister, Pamela Atieno Onyor. iv ABSTRACT Misiani was a great musician and pioneer of benga music. He sang about almost about anything and everything, but people remember him for his political songs. He sang when Kenya was still under firm grip of despotic politics of both Kenyatta the first president of Kenya and later Moi and Kibaki the second and third presidents respectively. Fearlessly, Misiani confronts the politics of the day using his music. Despite the fact that his songs were/are loaded with imagery and symbolism, not many scholars have analysed this work from literary perspective. The messages in Misiani‟s political songs are figuratively packaged making him a master of political language; language that is full of metaphors, symbolisms, personification. This study therefore aimed at exploring the imagery and symbolism employed by Misiani in constructing politics in his songs. The objectives were to: determine the extent to which Misiani's socio-cultural background influences the choice and use of symbolism and imagery in his music; evaluate how the repressive and hegemonic Kenyan political past shaped the artistic nature of Misiani‟s music; to examine how imagery and symbolism construct the theme of politics in Misiani's songs. The study used concepts from reader response theory where the primary focus falls on the reader and the process of reading rather than on the author or the text. The study also used concepts taken from the political analysis of the Italian Marxists Antonio Gramsci, on the development of the theory of hegemony. It sees music as popular culture, which is a site of struggle between the forces of resistance of subordinate groups, and the forces of incorporation of dominant groups in the society. This study adopted the descriptive research design. The study used purposive sampling technique to select information rich texts among Misiani‟s songs. The study sampled out 35 songs. The lyrics of the songs were transcribed, translated into English and then analyzed using textual analysis approach in relation to the objectives of the study. This study found out and confirmed the literariness of Misiani‟s music. The study found that Misiani uses imagery and symbolism to address the politics of Kenya. v TABLE OF CONTENTS TITE PAGE……………………………………………………………………………………..…i DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... vi DEFINITION OF TERMS……………………………………………………………………….ix CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the Study ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 D.O. Misiani and Benga Music.............................................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Symbolism and Imagery ........................................................................................................ 3 1.1.3 Music and Literature .............................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Scope of the Study .................................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Justification ............................................................................................................................... 7 1.7 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Popular Culture, the Realm of Political Resistance ................................................................ 12 2.3 Song and Politics ................................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Misiani and Political Dispensation ......................................................................................... 19 2.5 Kenya Politics and Luo Politics .............................................................................................. 20 2.6 Mainstream Culture and Music ............................................................................................... 22 2.7 Exploitation of Imagery and Symbolism ................................................................................ 24 2.8 The Conception Framework ................................................................................................... 26 2.9 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 29 3.1 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................... 29 3.2 Research Design...................................................................................................................... 29 3.3 Study Population ..................................................................................................................... 29 3.4 Sampling Strategy and Sample Size ....................................................................................... 30 vi 3.5 Data Collection Method .......................................................................................................... 30 3.6 Analysis and Presentation ....................................................................................................... 31 3.7 Ethical Consideration .............................................................................................................. 31 3.8 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 31 CHAPTERFOUR: SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE SONGS .............................. 32 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 32 4.2 Migration................................................................................................................................. 32 4.2.1 Naming: Ethnosystematics................................................................................................... 34