It’s wrong to claim women writers unfairly portrayed

The demise of Grace Ogot, who was buried last Saturday in Siaya County, has opened a can of literary worms. Literary scholars, readers, and critics have been rightly jostling for space on these pages to wish Dani (grandmother) eternal peace. PHOTO| FILE

What you need to know:

  • According to Ms Mwaniga, there has been unfair representation and portrayal of women writers, especially going by the tributes that were paid to Mrs Grace Ogot.

  • Without directly saying so, she believes most of the commentators assumed sexist tones in eulogising Ogot and, to a larger extent, ended up propagating ‘prejudices or double standards’ upon other women folk.’ I disagree.

It’s wrong to claim women writers unfairly portrayed

By Amol Awuor

The demise of Grace Ogot, who was buried last Saturday in Siaya County, has opened a can of literary worms. Literary scholars, readers, and critics have been rightly jostling for space on these pages to wish Dani (grandmother) eternal peace.

However, the emerging wishes and counter-wishes from different contributors, such as Gloria Mwaniga’s incisive, though, unrealistic piece (Saturday Nation, April 4, 2015), cannot go unchallenged.

According to Ms Mwaniga, there has been unfair representation and portrayal of women writers, especially going by the tributes that were paid to Mrs Grace Ogot.

Without directly saying so, she believes most of the commentators assumed sexist tones in eulogising Ogot and, to a larger extent, ended up propagating ‘prejudices or double standards’ upon other women folk.’ I disagree.

There’s nothing like that. In my first year at the university, our class studied Margaret Ogola’s The River and the Source as one of the primary reading lists. Ogola’s book was supported by the short story anthology Encounters from Africa.

PERSONAL IMPACT

The anthology has Ogot’s famous story "Tekayo", "The Bewitching of Damieno" by Barbara Kimenye, "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses" by Bessi Head, and "Amnesty" by Nadine Gordimer, among other equally interesting stories. The decision to list only stories by female writers is to demonstrate how they had an impact on me then.

And in the second year, the same cycle was repeated. Our class studied Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s 1986 classic Coming to Birth. The novel, through its protagonist, Paulina, traces the tortuous journey Kenya has undergone to stamp its real identity and bear the fruits promised during independence.

Macgoye’s book was supported by Mary Okurut’s novel Invisible Weevil. Again, in the following semester, our Literature department selected Coming to Birth, this time supported by, among other literary texts, Mariama Ba’s Scarlett Song. The decision to study the women authors disputes Mwaniga’s lamentation that curriculum developers favour male writers.

However, I concur with what Prof Egara Kabaji observed in his celebration of another legendary writer, Ama Ata Aidoo, concerning the masculine approach in the study of African Literature.

LION'S SHARE

Personally, I have come across more scholarship on male writers than female ones. Pioneer male writers such as Ngugi, Achebe, Meja Mwangi, Soyinka, Alex la Guma, Amadi, Awoonor and Naguib have often enjoyed the lion’s share as opposed to women writers.

One of the reasons emanates from our socio-cultural and even political socialisation that celebrates patriarchal supremacy. The man is the head of the house and home. Man is also the breadwinner.

In a word, we expect a woman to take second place in most societal decisions. However, from close reading of Ogot or Macgoye, we see the deconstruction of such stereotypes and discriminations because most women characters conquer or overshadow their male counterparts.

I also believe academia needs to encourage more studies of women writers at the graduate level. What about devoting more literary scholarship to Yvonne Owuor, Phyllis Muthoni, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Zukiswa Wanner, Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi, Leila Aboulela, Aminatta Forna, Chika Unigwe and Sefi Atta, among other contemporary writers?

Again, I reiterate that there’s nothing such as unfair portrayal of women writers. Apart from devoting more literary scholarship to their body of work, our focus should be on the relevance of those literary texts and not unnecessary sideshows. 

Amol Awuor is an English and Literature student at Kenyatta University. 

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New library charges will only serve to make Kenya a big literary desert 

By Solomon Muya 

I was disheartened by my hometown librarian in Kakamega when she told me that at the beginning of April that I would have to renew my library membership. A week later, my girlfriend, who has just completed her university studies was told the same.

The new fees for public library users were gazetted on November 20 by the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and the Arts, Dr Hassan Wario. Besides the old daily library access fee of Sh20, it introduces a new book loan fee of Sh20 on each borrowed book for 14 days by a student or an adult.

A junior member will be charged Sh5 per book borrowed for the same duration. Notably, the Books and Newspapers Act updated (Miscellaneous Amendment Act, 2002) establishes hefty bond fees for publishers.

The fees are unreasonable, bearing in mind that most of the library users are high school, college and university students who scarcely earn.

How shall they manage to pay Sh20 plus Sh20 on every book borrowed? What about the old man that I always meet at the Kakamega public library, reading the local dailies since he cannot afford to purchase them?

My rationale is that such laws only discourage Kenyans from the accessing reading materials.

Heinrich Heine asserted that if somewhere books are burnt, people will also be burnt. Ray Bradbury, a renowned American author, interpreted that you don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture just to get people to stop reading them. In that case, are we not then burning books through these rules? We shall end up with a society that is ignorant.

Impartially, library fees and media regulation are not entirely negative, but they should be constructive, considering the Bill of Rights. Honestly, many people will be unable to access information. A majority of Kenyans live under Sh100 per day.

We have been fighting the perception that Kenyans do not read, yet we now want to discourage even the few who find time to go to public libraries. In fact, the reason why second hand book vendors remain popular is because they are cheaper than other sources of book markets.

Ironically, most public libraries are poorly equipped. They should embrace new technology to become centres of information, research and creativity. They should purchase audio books, e-books and and install wi-fi. They should embrace the digital age to attract a broad readership.

Our libraries also need major renovation if we are serious about Vision 2030. 

The writer is a journalism student at Masinde Muliro University. 

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Pay close attention to Uhuru’s speaking skill 

By Collins Odhiambo 

One fact about language acquisition is that it occurs more in practical language situations than in formal instruction. Speaking, as a basic language skill, is my specific concern here.

However much people are shown phonetic symbols, their shapes and how to sound them, listening to model speakers in practical language situations is what holds the key to excellence in this skill.

It is in this regard that I would call attention to President Uhuru Kenyatta, in his personal capacity. One can’t fail to notice his delivery of written speech.

As a language practitioner, my interest goes beyond what a speaker says to encompass how they say it. The President exhibits a comfortable poise. He pronounces correctly and enunciates superbly, fully exploiting tone as a quality of voice.

He certainly internalised quite early the fact that English speech has its distinct rhythm, and that keeping to this rhythm moves one as close as possible to native fluency.

Armed with this expensive awareness, he lets these skills do all the work for him. Having closely followed the President’s oral deliveries, I can safely recommend him as a model user of the English language.

Surely, in the context of such poverty of oracy, we ought to count ourselves fortunate to be led by someone from whom there is quite a bit to learn outside of what he has to say. 

The writer is the president of Alyp Writers 

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Improve quality of lecturers 

By Innocent Tsalwa 

The number of students enrolling in public and private universities and colleges is on rise, but the quality of education is the biggest concern. Commercialisation of education has seen learning institutions become business ventures, and we have ended up with the so-called half-baked graduates.

 I think the main problem is the professional incompetence of lecturers. According to my research, most Kenyan lecturers are either master’s degree finalists or are pursuing a PhD. They are not equipped with well-researched material, thus they give less training to learners. They have found shortcuts. For instance, a lecturer may give out notes that you will find on Wikipedia.

And they will give out those notes and proceed to set examinations, not caring about whether the content is understood or not.

Not much research is being done in Kenya. The process of recruiting lecturers should be revised. Those seeking to lecture must be vetted to avoid hiring lazy people. 

The writer is a student at Kisii University. 

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Financial education is crucial 

By Kelvin Keya 

Much has been said about overhauling our school curriculum. It is important to factor financial education into the proposed curriculum. The biggest advantage that the wealthy in society have over the rest of us is information, more so financial education.

Such information is the reason people succeed in business. Lack of it is the main reason most businesses fail. Financial education is a powerful tool to empower the next generation. Such education will help change the perception our youth have about money, riches and being wealthy. It will help teach people on planning, prioritising demands and identifying wants from needs.

 It is sad that many youth, upon getting jobs, live from hand to mouth, with huge loans from banks to buy cars and houses. It is time we developed financial programmes to help educate our youth.