Renarrating The Kenyan Nation: An Analysis of Third- Generation Kenyan Fiction

Abstract

This study examined the literary concerns of Third-generation Kenyan authors,

positioning their works as a thematic and stylistic departure from first- and Second- generation writers. While earlier generations focused largely on corruption, postcolonial

disillusionment, and the stagnation of national development, this study explored how contemporary authors articulate the evolving notion of Kenyan nationhood. The research was motivated by the relative scarcity of critical scholarship on this emerging generation of writers whose works mirror Kenya’s shifting political, cultural, and social realities. The analysis focused on three selected novels: Of Pawns and Players (2018) by Kinyanjui Kombani, Nairobi Heat (2009) by Mukoma wa Ngugi, and The Dragonfly Sea (2019) by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. The objectives were to explore how these writers re-narrate contemporary issues affecting the nation, to examine the nature of language employed in engaging with the Kenyan nation, and to analyze the narrative techniques used to depict the complexities of national identity. The study was guided by three research questions: What issues are re-narrated in the texts? How is language used to address the Kenyan nation? Which narrative techniques are employed to represent the nation’s complexities? The study adopted narratology as its principal theoretical framework, drawing on Roland Barthes’ (1977) structural semiotics and Prince’s (1988) postclassical narratology to analyze narrative structure, language, and technique. A qualitative methodology was employed, with primary data drawn from the novels and secondary data from critical literature on Kenya’s socio-political context. Data were examined through content analysis, and findings were presented discursively. The analysis revealed that the selected authors foreground pressing contemporary issues such as identity crises, systemic crime and corruption, shifting gender dynamics, and the impact of technology and social media on public discourse. The study also found out that language functions as both a stylistic and ideological tool, blending diverse registers that reflect Kenya’s multilingual and class-divided society. The study findings contribute to African literary scholarship by mapping the changing contours of Kenyan fiction and demonstrating how contemporary narratives reflect, critique, and shape national consciousness.