The Trickster astride : the lingering nature of African orature
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This dissertation is based on two pieces of my artistic work namely, auto ethnography based personal narrative under the title, The Trickster's Journey back and a play under the title, Recreations. Relying on my orientation in African orature (oral traditions) and understanding of modern playwriting, I want this dissertation to cut across two distinct worlds of performance in my community -the traditional versus modern. These two worlds find confluence in the Kenya schools and colleges national drama festival that this dissertation undertakes to discuss. The impetus of this dichotomy is derived from my interaction with the unfolding historical antecedents in Kenya before, during and after independence. The two pieces of work mentioned above have been crafted to illustrate the power, craft and impact of stories and storytelling (orature). In so doing, my dissertation will though orature (oral traditions) and the written play, explore the elemental features that characterize oral performance and the modern play, using auto ethnography as both the process and product of my research. In the context of oral traditions in my community, the story of an individual is basically a reflection of a communal whole and thus collectivizing a community in my mindset exhibits how one person can attest to the fact that the human body is the space as well as the vehicle for artistic expression. How the story of a community is reflected in the life of an individual is the thrust of my indulgence in this dissertation. This research also focuses on highlighting traditional African story/tale as enshrined in orature (oral traditions). In a nutshell this research is to appreciate the lingering nature of the story as it navigates several levels of inhibitions through time.
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Ph. D.