Abstract:
This paper discusses the semiotic use of time and space among the
Turkana during Akuuta, the traditional marriage ceremony. All
through the ceremony that lasts three days and takes place in the
open, the sequence of processes and positioning of participants
are regulated mostly by time and space. As a ritual, marriage
ceremonies reflect a people’s culture, beliefs and attitudes hence
deserving analysis from a literary perspective. The data analysed
in this paper was collected through observation of a traditional
marriage ceremony in Turkana County, Kenya. The study is guided
by Umberto Eco’s Theory of Semiotics that calls for the treatment of
every cultural phenomenon as communicative and meaning making.
The findings reveal that the use of space and time, movements, and
actions performed within the ceremonial space convey meanings
related to love, commitment, fertility, and social cohesion. For
example, the exchange of gifts, the tying of ceremonial knots, and
the sharing of symbolic foods all carry deep cultural significance
within the Turkana marriage ceremony.
