Discourse analysis of gender-based violence in contemporary Kiswahili fiction: A case study of selected novels of the past three decades (1975 - 2004) and young Tanzanians’ interpretations
type: CreativeWork
description: This study focused on indirect exposure to violence against women by examining the discursive construction of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels. While there have been numerous studies on violence in the mass media and its possible effects on young people, limited research has focused on the role of violence in novels, particularly those written in the African languages. Since novels comprise a significant form of media in Tanzania and are particularly influential in the lives of young people, this study examined how novelists employ dominant discourses of gender-based violence to depict perpetrators and victims of violence against women, and the way young Tanzanians make sense of these textual constructions. Drawing on feminist poststructuralist and audience reception theories, this study combined textual analysis of Kiswahili novels with empirical research into their reception. A sample of 15 Kiswahili novels, published between 1975 and 2004, was analysed using Foucauldian discourse analysis to uncover the strategies novelists employ as they reflect, reproduce and sometimes challenge dominant discourses of violence against women in their novels. Focus group interviews were then conducted with 72 high school students in order to ascertain how they understood and responded to depictions of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels. The composite model of modes of reception was used to analyse their responses as they affirmed, questioned, and critiqued the novels’ depictions of gender-based violence. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with six Kiswahili teachers to understand the relationship between the textual construction of gender-based violence and broader social/cultural practices, and to identify potential ways of using novels in school settings as part of wider efforts to end violence against women in Tanzanian society. Analysis of the textual representation of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels showed that the dominant male power o…
abstract: This study focused on indirect exposure to violence against women by examining the discursive construction of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels. While there have been numerous studies on violence in the mass media and its possible effects on young people, limited research has focused on the role of violence in novels, particularly those written in the African languages. Since novels comprise a significant form of media in Tanzania and are particularly influential in the lives of young people, this study examined how novelists employ dominant discourses of gender-based violence to depict perpetrators and victims of violence against women, and the way young Tanzanians make sense of these textual constructions. Drawing on feminist poststructuralist and audience reception theories, this study combined textual analysis of Kiswahili novels with empirical research into their reception. A sample of 15 Kiswahili novels, published between 1975 and 2004, was analysed using Foucauldian discourse analysis to uncover the strategies novelists employ as they reflect, reproduce and sometimes challenge dominant discourses of violence against women in their novels. Focus group interviews were then conducted with 72 high school students in order to ascertain how they understood and responded to depictions of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels. The composite model of modes of reception was used to analyse their responses as they affirmed, questioned, and critiqued the novels’ depictions of gender-based violence. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with six Kiswahili teachers to understand the relationship between the textual construction of gender-based violence and broader social/cultural practices, and to identify potential ways of using novels in school settings as part of wider efforts to end violence against women in Tanzanian society. Analysis of the textual representation of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels showed that the dominant male power o…
author: Mosha, Ernesta Simon
keywords: Gender-based Violence, Kiswahili Fiction
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/2c14ac55-5990-4caa-ab4f-6319eaf3c134/download
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:27Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Waikato