The politics of everyday life in gǐkűyű popular music of Kenya (1990-2000) / Maina wa Műtonya ; Catherine Bosire, design and layout.

Includes bibliographical references.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed March 3, 2014).

While probing the politics of everyday in Gikuyu popular music, the main thrust of this book is to unpack the representation of daily struggles through music. Depending mainly on the lyrics of the songs, the study also combines both the textual and the contextual analysis of the music. Music here is studied both as a text, and as an aspect of popular culture. The decade 1990--2000 in Kenya provides two contrasting political developments, which directly impacted on the ordinary Kenyan; firstly, the extremes of the country's one-party rule were at the peak until when multi-party democracy was reintroduced. This ushered in a new era, but with antecedents in one-party rule, where service delivery was below par and economic mismanagement, corruption, assassinations and detentions continued unabated. It is in this contrasting environment that popular arts proliferated as a way of countering the repressed freedom of expression. This book, therefore, looks at how the Gikuyu musicians reacted and responded to these social and political realities in their songs. Music is discussed as an essential site for creation, recreation and negotiation of the various forms of identities.

Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- Contents -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- PREFACE -- CHAPTER ONE -- Introduction -- Gikuyu music in Kenya: A Historical Background -- The Gikuyu community and their music -- Popular music in Kenya -- Music as text -- Popular music as an aspect of popular culture -- Notes -- CHAPTER TWO -- The Politics of Everyday Life in Select Gikuyu Popular Music (1990-2000) -- Notes -- CHAPTER THREE -- Praise and Protest: Music and Contesting Patriotisms in Postcolonial Kenya -- Conclusion -- Notes -- CHAPTER FOUR -- Joseph Kamaru's Music: Cutting with Words, not Swords -- Kamaru the musician -- Kamaru's music during Kenyatta's years -- The Moi era -- The re-introduction of multi-party -- Kamaru, the convert -- Kamaru's audience -- Conclusion -- Notes -- CHAPTER FIVE -- 'Touch What You Don't Have': Mugithi, One-Man Guitar and Urban Identities -- Conclusion -- Notes -- CHAPTER SIX -- Mugithi Performance: Popular Music, Stereotypes and Ethnic Identity -- Conclusion -- Notes -- CONCLUSION -- Music and Society: The Consummate Marriage -- POSTSCRIPT -- Jane Nyambura (Queen Jane) 1965- 2010 -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- Back cover.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide