GENDERED IDENTITIES AND IMAGINING THE NATION IN THE POPULAR MUSIC OF SELECTED BUKUSU ARTISTS

Abstract

The study dissects identity on a tripartite platform of self, other and nation as informed by discourses on Babukusu social histories and gender. The form and artistry of the music was studied as a means of creating and negotiating identity. The study made inferences from pre-recorded audio music texts by Wasike wa Musungu, Simiyu Makhanu and Steve Kay. The study took cognizance of the fact that gender as a performative percept is a thread that holds self, other and nation hence it forms a pivotal part of the study. The study sought to: Analyze how the components in selected Babukusu popular music reveal the gendered nature of Babukusu self-identities, examine the portrayal of social histories in the understanding of Babukusu othered and national identities, explore the effectiveness of gender dynamics in negotiating Babukusu self, othered and national identities in the popular music of the selected artists and analyze the techniques used by Babukusu popular musicians to re-imagine Babukusu nationhood diachronically. The study answered the following questions: How do the components in Babukusu popular music reveal the gendered nature of Bukusu self-identities?; how do the social histories portrayed in Babukusu popular music affect the understanding of Babukusu othered and national identities?; how effective are gender dynamics in negotiating Babukusu self, othered and national identities in the popular music of selected artists?; and what techniques are used by Babukusu popular musicians to re-imagine Babukusu nationhood diachronically? The study opines that whereas a number of successful studies have been conducted in popular music, the reading of Babukusu popular music as a gendered discursive construct in encoding identity of self, other and nation deserves further scholarly attention especially from a diachronic standpoint. Ethnopoetics, gender performativity, New Historicism and Homi Bhabha’s nation and narration are theories that served the study aptly in engaging with the concept of identity over time. By utilizing ideas from the above theories, the study sought to reveal how the popular music of the select artists encodes gendered and national identities among the Babukusu. The study was carried out in Bungoma County. A total of forty-one audio popular music pieces were analyzed. Both primary and secondary texts were consulted. The study did content analysis of pre-recorded texts of the popular music. In addition, the study used the interview method in data collection as a way of corroborating and augmenting content analysis. Purposive sampling was employed in the identification of both informants and the array of popular music texts for analysis. Analysis of data involved textual content analysis of the songs. The study employed self interpellation in the analysis of data from the interviews. The study demonstrates how identity as a gendered discourse impacts on the imagination of nations. By revealing how the Babukusu conceive of their self, other and nation, the findings offer other ethnic communities a public to identify points of convergence and divergence with Babukusu identities; this can inform a premium interstitial space for creation of frameworks for national integration and cohesion. All these efforts form a matrix for actualization of the Kenyan national identity.