milu2016
Milu, Esther: |
CONTENTS
List of tables x
List of figures xi
Introduction
Entering the rhetoric and composition language wars 1
Chapter 1
History of hip-hop in Kenya:
Socio-economic, political and sociolinguistic context 18
Socio-economic and political context 19
Hip-hop routes to Africa 23
Early hip-hop in Kenya: From the suburbs to the inner city 27
Mapping the Nairobi urban space 28
The pioneers of Kenyan hip-hop 30
Kenyan hip-hop and language use: In the beginnings 32
Kenyan media and its role in spreading of hip-hop culture
in early 1990s 36
Chapter 2
Methods and methodology 39
In-depth phenomenological interviewing 40
Interview one: Focused life history 41
Interview two: The details of experience 42
Interview three: Reflection on the meaning 43
Building a trans lingual analytical framework 44
Chapter 3
Rappin like a Mkenya:
Translingualism as a construction of new ethnicities 47
Resisting Ethnic Identification 50
Jua Cali’s Story: Neither a Mtaita nor a Mluhya 53
Abbas Kubaff’s Story: A Kenyan but mostly a Pan-African 63
Nazizi Hirji’s story:
A combination of six different races and things 68
Conclusion 74
Chapter 4
“Wakilisha mtaani”: Trans lingualism as a performance
of street-conscious identity 76
Language and construction of a street- conscious
identity in hip-hop 78
But, can Nazizi wakilisha the Kenyan mtaa, streets? 85
Matatu ride as an everyday street practice 88
Storytelling as an everyday street practice 98
Ways of dressing as an everyday street practice .102
Conclusion 108
Chapter 5
“Kuna Sheng”: Trans lingualism as language activism 109
“Kuna Sheng”: A language activism song 111
Promoting critical language awareness in the Kenyan media 114
Practicing and advocating for language preservation 127
Impact of Jua Cali’s language activism work: Conclusion 137
Chapter 6
“Tugenge yajayo”: Discussion of findings and implications 140
Multilingual theories as negotiated 140
Trans lingual practice in Kenya is tied to decolonization 146
Linguistic culture(s) shapes a person’s trans lingual practices 150
Is trans lingualism enough? 152
Appendices 155
Appendix A: My research story 156
Appendix B: Interview protocol 188
References 190