The African Presence in Barbara Kimenye’s Young Adult Literature: A Reading of Kalasanda

APA Citation: Namayi, C., & Orina, F. (2021). The African Presence in Barbara Kimenye’s Young Adult Literature: A Reading of Kalasanda. Ngano: The Journal of Eastern African Oral Literature, 2, 17-26.

Abstract

Barbara Kimenye is recognized as one of East Africa's infuential writers with her
novels and novellas focusing on concerns and styles drawn from her immediate context:
East Africa. Through her works, it is not only possible to bring out the flexibility and
elasticity of oral traditions but also ways in which the European tradition of the novel
and African modes of expression complement each other. Kimenye’s Kalasanda fuses
the two traditions to achieve a specific intended effect on and reaction from the reader
she targets. The present study, therefore, is not only an attempt to reveal the universal
credentials of the oral traditions but also to show how specific oral tradition features
may be determined by both context and the author’s aspirations.