THE CONVERGENCE OF SELF AND HISTORY IN ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF’S THIS CHILD WILL BE GREAT AND JOE KHAMISI’S DASH BEFORE DUSK: A SLAVE DESCENDANT’S JOURNEY IN FREEDOM JUNE CHEBET CHELULE C50/8508/2017 A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN LITERATURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI 2019 DECLARATION This project is my own original work and has not been submitted for the award of a degree in any university: Signed……………………………………………….. Date …………………. June Chebet Chelule C50/8508/2017 This project has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors: First Supervisor Dr. Jennifer Muchiri Signed……………………………………………….. Date …………………. Second Supervisor Dr. Miriam Musonye Signed……………………………………………….. Date …………………. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge the support of my supervisors Dr. Jennifer Muchiri and Dr. Miriam Musonye throughout the duration of the research project and during the course work that shaped the ideas and resources for the project. Their guidance has been invaluable and I am forever inspired by their commitment. I am grateful to my lecturers at the Department of Literature for their dedication during my course work. Special thanks goes to Prof. Ciarunji Chesaina, Prof. Monica Mweseli, Prof. Peter Wasamba, Prof. Alina Rinkanya, Prof. Henry Indangasi, Dr. Masumi Odari, Dr. Godwin Siundu, Dr. Judith Jefwa, and Dr. Makau Kitata who made my studies to be memorable. I am a different person because of my interaction with them. I appreciate the friendship of all my classmates who include Sifa Toywa, Mercy Maloba, Godfrey Ikahu, Howard Obwao, and Sam Dennis Otieno in the 2016 class; Edna Olondo, Otieno Otieno, Mary Ndungu, Ruth Kitavi and Atem Jurkuch in the 2017 class which I belong; Yego, Munga, Wayne and Rosa Ireri in the 2018 class. I will miss the discussions and rigorous study pressure we shared. I am grateful to my immediate and extended family who offered me assistance in material and emotional form. I particularly want to thank Charles for his support, dad Wilson, mum Margaret, siblings Mercy, Faith, Kimisoi, and May Chepkorir. We are family and that is something. My nephews Bolton, Dwayne, and my niece Ella- yours are on the way. I also appreciate my close friends Veronica Cherotich, Joseph Wangila and Grace Odipo for their encouragement all through. I acknowledge all my former colleagues in Kericho and my entire circle of friends, mentors, spiritual parents, students and neighbours. Together we are stronger. Finally, I give glory to God for the gift of life and for the ability to pursue our passions. His thoughts about our lives are greater than ours. We are yet to change the world in many ways and in our own unique manner. We are the present, we are the future and we do matter. iii DEDICATION To my son Ryan Kipkirui, with love. To the strong women in my life: Margaret Toweett Chelule Mum, we treasure you. In memory of Grandmother Rachel Chemibei Toweett Your legacy lives on in us. For the future generation that will be after we are gone- There once was a people. iv ABSTRACT This study examines convergence of self and history in Ellen Johnson Sirleaf‘s This Child will be Great and Joe Khamisi‘s Dash before Dusk: A Slave’s Descendant’s Journey in Freedom. The autobiographies contain personal and collective memories. Sirleaf captures a period in the Republic of Liberia, a West African nation‘s history and Khamisi‘s autobiography is a good record of East Africa specifically Kenya‘s immediate history beginning from colonial to post-independence times. The study is guided by the autobiographical and new historicism literary theories. The objectives of this study are to discuss the convergence of self and history in the selected autobiographies, to examine how the authors inscribe themselves into the histories of their countries through their autobiographies and to interrogate how the autobiographers interpret the history of their nations through their life narratives. The study is divided into three chapters and a conclusion. Chapter one forms the background of the study. In chapter two, I discuss self-inscription in Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf‘s This Child will be Great, and in chapter three I interrogate how Joe Khamisi recalls and interprets personal and collective memories in his autobiography Dash Before Dusk: A Slave’s Descendant’s Journey in Freedom. I have done a brief comparison of the two autobiographies in the conclusion. I have highlighted the similarities and differences in the writing style and on the reflections of the two autobiographers that lead to the convergence of self and history. The study aims to advance knowledge on self and history in autobiographies. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.............................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION… ........................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ............................................................. 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................................ 4 Objectives of the Study ................................................................................................................... 4 Research Hypotheses ...................................................................................................................... 4 Justification of the Study ................................................................................................................ 5 Scope and Limitation ...................................................................................................................... 6 Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 6 Literature Related to the Autobiographies under Study ............................................................ 7 Reviewed Autobiographical Studies ........................................................................................ 12 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................. 17 New Historicism ...................................................................................................................... 17 The Theory of Autobiography ................................................................................................. 18 Research Methodology ................................................................................................................. 20 Chapter Outline ............................................................................................................................. 20 vi CHAPTER TWO: SELF INSCRIPTION IN ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF’S THIS CHILD WILL BE GREAT .......................................................................................................... 22 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 22 Family as a Field of Identity Formation ....................................................................................... 24 Professional Life and Self Inscription........................................................................................... 41 Political Career and Narration of the Nation ................................................................................ 49 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER THREE: RECALLING AND INTERPRETING PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE MEMORIES IN JOE KHAMISI’S DASH BEFORE DUSK ...................... 66 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 66 Family and Slave Descendant History .......................................................................................... 68 Professional Advancement in Self Actualisation .......................................................................... 81 Political Career for Agency ........................................................................................................ 100 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 107 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 108 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................... 112 vii CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Introduction Autobiographies can be read as histories of self, family, gender, community, nation, race and continents. They do not begin from a vacuum but are premised on existing historical realities. The historical records