The Construction of Feminine Psychology in Swahili Women’s Nuptial Poetry-Unyago

Wangari Mwai, Margaret Mwenje and John Kirimi M’Raiji

Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 2017, vol. 7, issue 1, 241

Abstract: This article examines the construction of feminine psychology in Swahili women nuptial poetry-unyago. Unyago poetry is composed and performed by Swahili women. Swahili is a community located along the coastal region of Kenya. This article, therefore, focuses on intersections between psychology and poetry in analyzing and describing how unyago poetry reveals the mindsets and emotions of Swahili women. Data for analysis in article is derived from research carried out among women of Swahili decent living at Kisumu using observation and in-depth interviews as data collection methods. Unyago poetry is viewed as confessions and revelations of the female self, the marriage institution and that of the marital partner. Worth noting is the fact that the women, whose ancestors originated from the coastal region of Kenya, have preserved the nuptial rituals and teachings therein across time and space. Through unyago, the women socialize their girls from children to women and is a deeply rooted practice in their philosophy, psychology, and culture of the Swahili people. Thus, this article contends that unyago is both a reflection of group and individual psychological reactions to cultural expression through poetry.

Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jedp/article/download/67153/36421 (application/pdf)
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jedp/article/view/67153 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ibn:jedpjl:v:7:y:2017:i:1:p:241

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology from Canadian Center of Science and Education Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Canadian Center of Science and Education ().