A Critical Discourse Analysis of Love Metaphors in Selected Songs of Benga Maestro Dr. Osito Kalle

Abstract

Love is an eternal topic that continues to elicit emotive reactions throughout the ages. It can be conceptualized as an expression of peace and war. Love metaphors allow us to comprehend love in terms of more clearly delineated concepts [1]. Love metaphors are prevalent in Benga music by musicians from the Luo community of Kenya. Dr. Osito Kalle is one such musician whose songs are heavy with love metaphors in praise of his ladies. Benga music is a variant of the rhumba genre of music commonly found among the Luo of Western Kenya. Many studies have been done on metaphors as a genre of oral literature [2-4]. Other studies have been carried out on how metaphors construct mental images for the audience. However, these studies have not targeted love metaphors in Benga music as a form of entertainment and mental constructions of imagery. The use of love metaphors in songs is a sociolinguistic phenomenon that needs to be examined. This paper undertakes a Critical Discourse Analysis of the constructions of love metaphors by Osito Kalle in Dholuo cultural, social and environmental contexts.