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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Political Songs, Collective Memories and Kikuyu Indi Schools
Author:Wilson (Jr), James A.ISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:History in Africa
Volume:33
Pages:363-388
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:songs
Kikuyu
schools
memory
colonialism
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Politics and Government
Architecture and the Arts
nationalism
External link:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v033/33.1wilson.pdf
Abstract:This paper examines the texts of songs associated with Kikuyu independent schools before and during the Mau Mau rebellion (1930s to 1950s). The primary focus is on how memory and music operated together in Kikuyu 'Indi' schools to shape emerging concepts of ethnicity, identity, and nationalism. The first part of the paper explores the concept and utility of collective memory as a tool for studying the shared experiences and memories of Kikuyu elders. In addition, the paper examines the relationship and role of music as a cultural transmission of oral history to determine how Kikuyu elders were able to remember, after fifty years, specific details of the educational, social and political activities of 'Indi' schools. And lastly, the paper investigates the reliability of using memory, music and oral sources to reconstruct the local histories of ordinary people who were involved in the Kikuyu Independent Schools Movement. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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