Form in Contemporary Writing on Youth in Kenya: a Reading of Three Selected Novellas

Abstract

The study examines how Elizabeth Kabui in Was Nyakeeru Father?, Anthony Mugo in Ask the Stars and Moraa Gitaa in The Shark Attack employ form to explore contemporary issues that affect the youth in Kenya. The study focuses on the analysis of the three selected texts using parameters of form that characterize prose fiction such as: the development of plot, characterization, stylistic devices used in the story as well as the narrative voice to develop the themes of identity crisis among the youth, quest for unity and the effects of drug abuse among the youth in Kenya today. The study concludes that literature depends on its formalistic appeal in tackling the subject matter.