The Nature of Literary Journalism in the Kenyan Print Media: a Critical Comparison of the Daily Nation and Standard Newspapers

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to analyze the language used in literary journalistic articles and the literary techniques prevalent. The specific objectives were to; to investigate the structure of literary journalistic articles in the Daily Nation and the Standard newspaper; to find out the narrative techniques in literary journalistic articles in the Daily Nation and the Standard newspaper; and to compare narrative techniques in literary journalistic articles in the Daily Nation and the Standard newspaper. The social construction theory was used in this study because readers construct a reality from the language and narrative techniques used in literary journalistic articles. Through a descriptive design the data collected was qualitative. Textual content analysis was used to collect and analyze the qualitative data. Findings from the study include; that literary journalistic article writers have a unique choice of words as well as the tone. Findings proved that the words they use make their work different from other genres of journalism. It is recommended that literary journalism writers use photos and pictures to illustrate their stories. On the narrative techniques, the study identified dialogue, satire, shifts of time and symbolism as some of the stylistic techniques employed by writers to create humor and make them appealing to the readers. The study showed that these devices are also used to criticize folly and individual vices in the society.