Miguna Miguna and the Autobiography

Abstract

In this project I have critically examined Miguna Miguna and the autobiography. I have interrogated how Miguna Miguna employed the autobiographical form in his personal narratives. I sought to examine the truth-value of Miguna Miguna in his memoir Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya and its sequel Kidneys for the King: de- FORMING the Status Quo in Kenya. I have also evaluated the author’s fidelity to the genre; and I have also examined the literariness of the two texts. The study was based on the assumptions that distortion of facts undermined the reliability of Miguna Miguna’s personal narratives. The other assumption that was explored was that the author disregarded the crucial tenets of autobiography. I also hypothesized that Miguna Miguna misused the autobiographical genre and this undermined the literary value of his writings. I collected the data by doing library research where books and other materials from the archives were used. I also collected some data by interviewing some selected people and institutions. The close textual reading and desktop research were also done to help gather the data. After the collection of the data the analysis was done. I found that Miguna Miguna’s memoir is a very important narrative that has some positive values in it. The memoir gives the readers some important insights into what happens behind the scenes in our political institutions. It also gives the readers some inside stories of how our leaders behave and on how they play their political games, in what can only be described as their exclusive club. Through Miguna’s personal narrative, the myth that surrounds these political institutions is dispelled. The distrust that became the preoccupation of the two principals is laid bare. The readers, through Miguna’s personal narratives, are able to discern that all the unity and coalition talks were nothing but a charade to hoodwink Kenyans. However, I found that Miguna Miguna disregarded the crucial tenets of autobiography. I found out that Miguna Miguna did not mind about facts and this undermined his truth-value. And this also demonstrated his lack of fidelity to the genre. This misuse of the autobiographical genre undermined the literary value of Miguna Miguna’s writings. Miguna Miguna does not care about breaking the rules that created the genres. This in itself effectively affects the form to which his writings belong, and this by extension affects the literary value of his work