The form of protest in Kenya: Drama or the novel?

Abstract

My aim in this paper is to focus attention on one of the crucial conditions of the production of drama and the novel in the very specific social context of post-Independence Kenya. I use the term ‘drama’ rather than ‘theatre’ because I have access only to what has been published as text, but I want to shift the focus of interest away from the individual text and look at the putative audience, and the wayan author's perception of that audience will determine not only what he wants to say, but how to say it. The relationship between what a writer wants to say and the people to whom he will be saying it is clearly a key factor determining the choice of genre. I have chosen to look at protest literature partly because it is there that any possible conflict between the ideologies of author and readers is likely to show itself most obviously.