Some trends in Kenyan women’s novel of the 21st century

Abstract

Kenyan women’s writing, which has become an established stratum of Kenyan literature since 1960s (and which I would loosely define as “literature by women, about women and for women”) has in the current century received a new impetus from the generation of writers that have entered the Kenyan literary arena within three recent decades. It must be noted from the onset, that Kenyan women’s literature is created in the two official languages of the country – English and Swahili. Currently, however, the English part appears to be more representative, especially in the field of novel writing ¹. Women authors of Swahili expression have mostly preferred smaller prosaic forms, such as short story and novella. Therefore, this paper will be focusing on the current state of English-language part in Kenyan women’s writing, since it has featured a higher diversity of generic forms and topics.

Key words: Literature, women, feminism, Kenya, language