A01=Jeremiah M Kitunda
Author_Jeremiah M Kitunda
Category=CFB
Category=JHMC
East African Culture
East African History
eq_bestseller
eq_dictionaries-language-reference
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Kenyan linguistics
Kenyan proverbs
Language history
Linguistic History
Oral tradition
Proverb history
Sayings of Kenyan Origin
Product details
- ISBN 9781847013699
- Weight: 685g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 21 Nov 2023
- Publisher: James Currey
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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A unique historical and linguistic resource for those in anthropology, art, folklore, history, linguistics, literature, psychology, religion, sociology, and environmental studies, as well as performers and poets.
Not simply relics of the past, proverbs are an oral tradition containing historical and anthropological knowledge missing from conventional sources, and as micro-histories, provide a valuable source for the reconstruction of the manners, characteristics, and worldviews of societies. While only a few hundred Kamba proverbs have ever appeared in print, thousands have circulated over time, from the monsoon exchange era of the Roman Empire through the advent of Islam, European imperialism and colonialism to independence. Today, a resurgence of interest in the form has been generated via social media, songs and vernacular radio programmes.
This book provides the first, comprehensive collection of Kamba proverbs from Eastern Kenya in their original Kĩkamba language and in translation. Analysing 2,000 proverbs drawn from oral interviews, archival collections, museum artefacts and published sources, the author traces the origins of each and explores their meaning, interpretation and use. Covering a diverse range of subjects that ranges from plants, animals, birds and insects, to weather, land, the roles of men and women, cosmology, ritual and belief, healing, trade, politics and peacemaking, the book offers new insights into Kenya's rural world and the expansion of Kamba society, East African history, language and culture of vital significance for the social sciences. A valuable comparative work for societal change elsewhere in Africa and beyond, the book also suggests an innovative, alternative approach to the study of the African past.
JEREMIAH M. KITUNDA is Professor of History, Appalachian State University; he was previously Lecturer, University of Nairobi, Kenya and a visiting scholar, University of Oregon (Eugene)
