Conflict and Accommodation in Western Kenya

Conflict and Accommodation in Western Kenya
Author: Robert M. Maxon
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1989
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780838633502

The Gusii people of Kenya, Africa, were the last major Kenyan ethnic group to be conquered by the British. This is an account of their experience under colonial control and a portrayal of their strong and steadfast resistance. Illustrated with maps and tables.

Historical Dictionary of Kenya

Historical Dictionary of Kenya
Author: Robert M. Maxon
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2014-09-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0810874695

Kenya has a long and complex history that began thousands of years ago. Indeed, some archaeologists contend that the country was the "cradle of mankind" or, at the very least, one of the places that was home to the earliest hominids. In later centuries, Kenya's strategic location astride the Indian Ocean and the East African littoral attracted numerous foreign peoples, some of the most significant of which have been the Americans, Arabs, British, Chinese, French, Germans, and Portuguese. Additionally, Africans from throughout the subcontinent have settled in Kenya to escape conflict or political persecution, while others wanted an opportunity to begin a new life. As a result of being a gateway to the world, the country traditionally has been one of the most important business, cultural, diplomatic, and political centers in Africa. Although it has maintained this reputation during the post-independence period, Kenya, like most African countries, has been plagued by an increasing array of complex economic, political, and social problems. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Kenya provides a starting point for those interested in any of the phases of Kenya's historical evolution. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Kenya.

Approaches to Teaching the Works of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Approaches to Teaching the Works of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Author: Oliver Lovesey
Publisher: Modern Language Association
Total Pages:
Release: 2012-12-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1603291830

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is one of the most important and celebrated authors of postindependence Africa as well as a groundbreaking postcolonial theorist. His work, written first in English, then in Gĩkũyũ, engages with the transformations of his native Kenya after what is often termed the Mau Mau rebellion. It also gives voice to the struggles of all Africans against economic injustice and political oppression. His writing and activism continue despite imprisonment, the threat of assassination, and exile. Part 1 of this volume, "Materials," provides resources and background for the teaching of Ngũgĩ's novels, plays, memoirs, and criticism. The essays of part 2, "Approaches," consider the influence of Frantz Fanon, Karl Marx, and Joseph Conrad on Ngũgĩ; the role of women in and influence of feminism on his fiction; his interpretation and political use of African history; his experimentation with orality and allegory in narrative; and the different challenges of teaching Ngũgĩ in classrooms in the United States, Europe, and Africa."

A History of African Motherhood

A History of African Motherhood
Author: Rhiannon Stephens
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 379
Release: 2015-08-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107244994

This history of African motherhood over the longue durée demonstrates that it was, ideologically and practically, central to social, economic, cultural and political life. The book explores how people in the North Nyanzan societies of Uganda used an ideology of motherhood to shape their communities. More than biology, motherhood created essential social and political connections that cut across patrilineal and cultural-linguistic divides. The importance of motherhood as an ideology and a social institution meant that in chiefdoms and kingdoms queen mothers were powerful officials who legitimated the power of kings. This was the case in Buganda, the many kingdoms of Busoga, and the polities of Bugwere. By taking a long-term perspective from c.700 to 1900 CE and using an interdisciplinary approach - drawing on historical linguistics, comparative ethnography, and oral traditions and literature, as well as archival sources - this book shows the durability, mutability and complexity of ideologies of motherhood in this region.

Africanizing Knowledge

Africanizing Knowledge
Author: Toyin Falola
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 643
Release: 2017-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351324381

Nearly four decades ago, Terence Ranger questioned to what extent African history was actually African, and whether methods and concerns derived from Western historiography were really sufficient tools for researching and narrating African history. Despite a blossoming and branching out of Africanist scholarship in the last twenty years, that question is still haunting. The most prestigious locations for production of African studies are outside Africa itself, and scholars still seek a solution to this paradox. They agree that the ideal solution would be a flowering of institutions of higher learning within Africa which would draw not only Africanist scholars, but also financial resources to the continent. While the focus of this volume is on historical knowledge, the effort to make African scholarship "more African" is fundamentally interdisciplinary. The essays in this volume employ several innovative methods in an effort to study Africa on its own terms. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, "Africanizing African History," offers several diverse methods for bringing distinctly African modes of historical discourse to the foreground in academic historical research. Part 2, "African Creative Expression in Context," presents case studies of African art, literature, music, and poetry. It attempts to strip away the exotic or primitivist aura such topics often accumulate when presented in a foreign setting in order to illuminate the social, historical, and aesthetic contexts in which these works of art were originally produced. Part 3, "Writing about Colonialism," demonstrates that the study of imperialism in Africa remains a springboard for innovative work, which takes familiar ideas about Africa and considers them within new contexts. Part 4, "Scholars and Their Work," critically examines the process of African studies itself, including the roles of scholars in the production of knowledge about Africa. This timely and thoughtful volume will be of interest to African studies scholars and students who are concerned about the ways in which Africanist scholarship might become "more African."

Ethnography of the Gusii of Western Kenya

Ethnography of the Gusii of Western Kenya
Author: John Sorana Akama
Publisher:
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2006
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

The editors have edited a book of essays relating to the Gusii of Western Kenya. This is very significant work since it is a comprehensive study of a culture that is disappearing, and which very little has been written about. The editors have grouped the essays into five parts, each of which focuses upon a different aspect of the Gusii: The Origin and Evolution of the Gusii; Social and Political Institutions; Initiation and Marriage Ceremonies; Land Tenure System and Usage; and Other aspects of Gusii Culture and Ethnography.