Redefining “Home”: The Concept of dala in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira

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avondale-bepress-to-dspace.facultyArts
avondale-bepress.abstract<p>The debates about Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s identity either, exclusively identify her as Kenyan or British-born Kenyan without explicitly interrogating the process by which she became Kenyan. This research recognises that Macgoye is Kenyan through her marriage to a Luo. The Luo are a language group whose traditional land is on the shores of Lake Victoria. To the Luo, the word <em>dala</em> has varied meanings including, but not limited to: a homestead, the ancestral land, the clan, and the general direction of <em>dala</em> before the Luo is Kenyan. As a Luo wife, Macgoye has multiple belongings to these <em>dala</em> spaces, which use location, ethnicity and gender to create Luo cultural identity in experiences involving an individual’s past and the present. These definitions of the Luo <em>dala</em> are interrogated in various ways in Macgoye’s <em>Chira</em> (a novel) showing her engagement with the different appropriations of the Luo <em>dala.</em> This paper uses postcolonial and diaspora theories, and the Luo concepts of <em>dala</em> to show how her identity and belonging influences Macgoye’s representations. It argues that Macgoye’s Luo wife status informs and redefines postcolonial and diaspora concepts of home. The paper also shows how Macgoye’s being “at home” is shown through her use of both the mother tongue and the mother in-law tongue. Luo storytelling structures and transliterations are identified as indications of Macgoye’s concept of <em>dala</em>. The research aims to show how the cultural re-rooting of Macgoye challenges discussions of displacement, identity and belonging.</p>
avondale-bepress.articleid1017
avondale-bepress.authorsJennifer Ongalo
avondale-bepress.authorsJane L Fernandez
avondale-bepress.authorsDaniel Reynaud
avondale-bepress.context-key10471626
avondale-bepress.coverpage-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/arts_conferences/17
avondale-bepress.document-typeconference
avondale-bepress.field.author_faculty_disciplineArts
avondale-bepress.field.comments<p>Used by permission: African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) and the authors.</p> <p>© 2017 African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP)</p> <p>This conference paper may be accessed from the publisher <a href="http://afsaap.org.au/conference/perth-2016/">here.</a></p>
avondale-bepress.field.custom_citation<p>Ongalo, J., Fernandez, J., & Reynaud, D. (2017). <em>Redefining “home”: The concept of dala</em><em> in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira</em>. Paper presented at the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) Conference, Perth, Australia. Retrieved from http://afsaap.org.au/conference/perth-2016/</p>
avondale-bepress.field.embargo_date2017-07-24T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.for200508 Other Literatures in English
avondale-bepress.field.proceedingsAfrican Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) Conference
avondale-bepress.field.publication_date2017-06-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.reportable_itemsE1
avondale-bepress.field.source_publication<p>This conference paper was originally published as:</p> <p>Ongalo, J., Fernandez, J., & Reynaud, D. (2017). <em>Redefining “home”: The concept of dala</em><em> in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira</em>. Paper presented at the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) Conference, Perth, Australia. Retrieved from http://afsaap.org.au/conference/perth-2016/</p> <p>ISBN: 978-0- 9942689-2-1</p>
avondale-bepress.fulltext-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&amp;context=arts_conferences&amp;unstamped=1
avondale-bepress.keywordsHome
avondale-bepress.keywordspostcolonial
avondale-bepress.keywordsdiaspora
avondale-bepress.keywordsKenyan literature
avondale-bepress.keywordsLuo writing
avondale-bepress.label17
avondale-bepress.publication-date2017-06-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.publication-titleArts Conference Papers
avondale-bepress.statepublished
avondale-bepress.submission-date2017-07-24T23:14:06Z
avondale-bepress.submission-patharts_conferences/17
avondale-bepress.titleRedefining “Home”: The Concept of dala in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira
avondale-bepress.typearticle
dc.contributor.authorReynaud, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorFernandez, Jane L.
dc.contributor.authorOngalo, Jennifer
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T00:25:06Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T00:25:06Z
dc.date.issued2017-06-01
dc.date.submitted2017-07-24T23:14:06Z
dc.description.abstract<p>The debates about Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s identity either, exclusively identify her as Kenyan or British-born Kenyan without explicitly interrogating the process by which she became Kenyan. This research recognises that Macgoye is Kenyan through her marriage to a Luo. The Luo are a language group whose traditional land is on the shores of Lake Victoria. To the Luo, the word <em>dala</em> has varied meanings including, but not limited to: a homestead, the ancestral land, the clan, and the general direction of <em>dala</em> before the Luo is Kenyan. As a Luo wife, Macgoye has multiple belongings to these <em>dala</em> spaces, which use location, ethnicity and gender to create Luo cultural identity in experiences involving an individual’s past and the present. These definitions of the Luo <em>dala</em> are interrogated in various ways in Macgoye’s <em>Chira</em> (a novel) showing her engagement with the different appropriations of the Luo <em>dala.</em> This paper uses postcolonial and diaspora theories, and the Luo concepts of <em>dala</em> to show how her identity and belonging influences Macgoye’s representations. It argues that Macgoye’s Luo wife status informs and redefines postcolonial and diaspora concepts of home. The paper also shows how Macgoye’s being “at home” is shown through her use of both the mother tongue and the mother in-law tongue. Luo storytelling structures and transliterations are identified as indications of Macgoye’s concept of <em>dala</em>. The research aims to show how the cultural re-rooting of Macgoye challenges discussions of displacement, identity and belonging.</p>
dc.identifier.citation<p>Ongalo, J., Fernandez, J., & Reynaud, D. (2017). <em>Redefining “home”: The concept of dala</em><em> in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira</em>. Paper presented at the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) Conference, Perth, Australia. Retrieved from http://afsaap.org.au/conference/perth-2016/</p>
dc.identifier.urihttps://research.avondale.edu.au/handle/123456789/10471626
dc.language.isoen_us
dc.provenance<p>This conference paper was originally published as:</p> <p>Ongalo, J., Fernandez, J., & Reynaud, D. (2017). <em>Redefining “home”: The concept of dala</em><em> in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira</em>. Paper presented at the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) Conference, Perth, Australia. Retrieved from http://afsaap.org.au/conference/perth-2016/</p> <p>ISBN: 978-0- 9942689-2-1</p>
dc.rights<p>Used by permission: African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP) and the authors.</p> <p>© 2017 African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP)</p> <p>This conference paper may be accessed from the publisher <a href="http://afsaap.org.au/conference/perth-2016/">here.</a></p>
dc.subjectHome
dc.subjectpostcolonial
dc.subjectdiaspora
dc.subjectKenyan literature
dc.subjectLuo writing
dc.titleRedefining “Home”: The Concept of dala in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Chira
dc.typeConference Publication
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