Nation, narrative and gender: a reading of selected Kenyan women autobiographies

Abstract

The importance of life writing, particularly autobiography, cannot be overstated in the exploration of personal narratives that are often intertwined with the collective consciousness of a nation. Personal experiences in these stories are connected to broader social, cultural and political contexts. Through this, writers reflect on individual experiences, constructing versions of personal as well as public histories. However, in the complexity of national narratives, the voices and stories of women have tended to be marginalized. This marginalization problematizes an inclusive and multifaceted narrative of a nation. As such, this study sets out to examine the significance of the Kenyan woman autobiography in narrating the nation. To achieve this the study inspects the alternative voices and perspectives of the nation provided in these autobiographical texts. These are: Wambui Waiyaki Otieno’s Mau Mau’s Daughter: A Life History, Rasna Warah’s Triple Heritage: A Journey to Self-Discovery, Muthoni Likimani’s Fighting Without Ceasing, Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed: One Woman’s Story, Grace Akinyi Ogot’s Days of My Life: An Autobiography, Betty Gikonyo’s The Girl Who Dared to Dream, Ruth Nabwala Otunga’s Little Seeds of Resilience: An Autobiography and Phoebe Asiyo’s It is Possible: An African Woman Speaks. The study settles on these texts because of the ways in which personal stories of the respective writers intersect with the socio-political history of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial Kenya. Notably, besides being public figures, the chosen writers seem to contend with a male dominated society. The specific objectives of the study are: to investigate the relationship between gender power relations and the woman’s narration of the nation; to examine the relationship between the professional experiences of the woman autobiographer and her narration of the nation; and to analyze the vision of the nation that emerges from the Kenyan woman’s autobiography. This study is based on two assumptions. First, the Kenyan woman autobiographer narrates the nation as she tells her personal story. Second, the Kenyan woman autobiographer brings her awareness of the historical and cultural subordinate position of the woman in the male-dominated Kenyan cultures; to influence the way she narrates the nation. Three theories are employed, namely theories of autobiography, gender, and nation, which are post- structuralist as well as postcolonial approaches. These theoretical standpoints are useful to the study because they entail narrative construction, discourse analysis and gender performance. In terms of methodology, the study adopts a qualitative approach, leveraging narrative and content analysis designs to analyze the selected texts critically and systematically. Informed by interpretivist-constructivist paradigm, this study views the narrative of the nation as socially constructed, prioritizing subjective interpretations, and understanding individuals' perspectives within societal contexts. The central argument in this study is that the Kenyan woman autobiographer has played a critical role in shaping the narrative of the nation and in challenging dominant discourses by amplifying women's voices. In conclusion, this study has established that the nation is not a monolithic or homogeneous entity but rather a collection of diverse and often conflicting narratives. Therefore, there is need for a more inclusive and equitable society whose vision is to embrace the complexity and diversity of the Kenyan experiences. These findings underscore the importance of further research into the dynamics of nation narration, dominant ideologies, and women writings.