English and Foreign Languages

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Browsing English and Foreign Languages by Author "Mwangi, Peter Muhoro"

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    A Critical Analysis of Humor as an Aspect of Satire in Selected Songs of Okot P’bitek: Song of Malaya, Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol
    (International Journal of Management Studies and Social Science Research, 2022) Mwangi, Peter Muhoro
    Humour is essentially part of our daily lives. There seems to be life and liveliness whenever we incorporate humour even to a small extent. Based on this concept, this study sought to explore the use of humour and how it leads to successful satirizing of situations in OkotP’Bitek’s three selected texts - Song of Malaya, Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. It aimed at giving different definitions of humour and then going ahead to show that humour is subjective, that is, what one considers as humour may differ from another person's interpretation within the same context of use. Successful use of satire relies on effective use of humour and this is important to both writers and the readers in that whereas the writer will comfortably relay issues of concern, the readers will not get offended even when the issues being relayed touch on their personal lives. This study had three objectives: to identify humour in satirical contexts in S. O. M, S. O. O and S. O. L, to show that humour is arbitrary in the selected songs, and finally to demonstrate that use of humour leads to successful relay of negative themes in the three songs. The aim of the study was to show that satire cannot be successfully used without incorporating humour. Therefore, satire and humour are integral. Various contexts were considered in the three songs in order to find out contexts that contain humour. In particular, the songs were studied in contexts of politics, religion and culture so as to provide a more organized in-depth analysis. Study population was limited to the three songs and only samples of data were picked to achieve the study objectives. One theory of reference which was heavily relied on in this study was Reader Response theory by Stanley Fish. The study design was qualitative in nature. Cresswell (1998) observes that a study design aims at exploring in depth, insight and the wealthy ideas of a phenomenon. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources and were particularly based on a library research. Primary data was data which was collected afresh for the first time. On the other hand, secondary data was data that had already been collected in order to be used again. After obtaining data, analysis was done on the content. It was textual analysis. Towards the end there were conclusions and recommendations that would give summaries and future actions respectively.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The Strugles of Motherhood in the African Novella and Novel: Mariama Ba’s so Long a Letter and Buchi Emecheta’s the Joys of Motherhood
    (International Research Journal of Social Sciences, Education and Humanities, 2022-10-31) Kanorio ,Fridah; Mwangi, Peter Muhoro
    The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges women encounter in motherhood as well as the position of women in their societies, credibly displaying both the truth as well as the strengths of women in modern setups. The fundamental issues of motherhood for the key characters in Bâ‟s and Emecheta‟s work are related. Nonetheless, regardless of which level of society they fit in or what level of difficulty they suffer, these characters really experience shockingly related feelings just as offer the challenges at any rate somewhat or not molding the occasions of their family's lives. This study will analyze how the position of a woman contributes to the struggles of motherhood, identify the different stylistic strategies used to characterize the struggles of motherhood, and determine how the constraints of motherhood raise gender issues in the selected texts. This research is limited to the selected texts because the authors have come from societies where women struggle under polygamous marriage. In these patriarchal societies, women are made subjects to the men who are their superiors. The study will use West African texts by feminist authors, which clearly illustrate these challenges. In addition, the societies which the authors have come from are victims of these issues. Hence, this study aims at creating social awareness of the challenges that women are still facing in most African countries and credibly displaying both the truth as well as the strengths of women in the modern setup. The findings of the study will be of benefit to the ministry of education in the formulation of policies that relate to the challenges of motherhood. The study will be premised on formalist and feminist literary theories. The research will be carried out through textual analysis of the two selected novels; Mariama Bâ‟s (So Long a Letter) as well as Emecheta (The Joys of Motherhood), and relate the data to the objectives of the study. The researcher will make relevant conclusions and propose recommendations to address the challenges women encounter in motherhood and the position of women in their societies, convincingly displaying both the truth as well as the strengths of women in a modern setup.