| dc.description.abstract | This study is an investigation of gender dynamics and different images revealed about motherhood in selected Bukusu work, ritual and initiation songs. The study seeks to demonstrate how the rich language variety embodied in the performance of the songs is deployed in the construction of images of motherhood. Further, it analyzes the gender dynamics that accompany the performances and how they enhance the construction of images of motherhood. Employing ideas from feminism (African feminism), we seek to unravel the Bukusu construction of female identity (Motherhood). Motherhood in this study refers to the Bukusu understanding of the person of mother. The study examines gendered discourses that can be read in work, ritual and initiation songs, an area that has received little scholarly attention; this affords the study a lot of space within which to work. Both primary and secondary sources were consulted. Primary sources included books, journals, articles, seminar papers, among other sources. The study relied on fieldwork which involved active participation, participant observation, observation and recording and interviews. Purposive sampling and snow balling techniques were used in identifying informants. Among the respondents were men and women who had either participated in ritual, work or initiation songs. The study was carried out in Bungoma Central Sub-county of Bungoma County. A total of twenty five songs were collected for purposes of this study. Interpretation of the data involved analysis of form and structure, textual content analysis and analysis of performance. Findings of this study reveal that the Bukusu community uses elements of drama and their rich language variety to reveal images of Motherhood. The mother is constructed as the true parent, a complement of the father, a nurturer, and a proactive member of the Bukusu community. The findings are vital as they reveal gendered discourses embodied in the construction of images of motherhood. The study contributes to the existing stock of knowledge on Gender and women studies with particular emphasis on motherhood through an African Feminism prism. The study forms a source of reference for future researches in literature and opens up new vistas in the study of literature. | en_US |
