Defining Oneself in the Eyes of the Other: Identity and Othering in Bukusu Oral Literature

Abstract

This paper examines how the Babukusu community, through its oral literature (oral narratives, songs-especially circumcision songs, and proverbs) has defined and located itself through encounters with other communities, both local and foreign. Using New Historicism theory, it explores images and symbols of the “other” and the community's construction of the resistance strategies to deal with the encounters. Literature as the soul of a community captures the intense emotions of its people as an expression of their community's fears, anxieties, dreams, and aspirations. These emotions are generated through the community's interactions with both the physical and social environment. As a way of coping with and comprehending their social and economic environment, the community creates oral literature not only as a creative way of understanding phenomena but also as a means of historically capturing and imprinting important events in the life of the community. Comprehending reality through creative means enables the community to imagine the ideal and open up possibilities of alternative views.