Doing Social History with stories in mordern Nyanza: “Simbi Nyaima,” 1938-1982

Can we use fiction to write history? This paper examines some of the ways in which historians of East Africa can use stories about the precolonial past—particularly stories labeled as “fables” and “folklore”—as windows onto modern history. Focusing on a well-known Luo story entitled “Simbi Nyaima” set in Karachuonyo, South Nyanza, I will consider the methods that scholars can use to trace how local and foreign intellectuals engaged with folklore and oral traditions in twentieth-century Kenya. I will argue that the “history of stories” presents an original angle to reconsider some of the tremendous dynamics that shaped the modern history of Nyanza. (These dynamics may include, for example, the development of missionary literacy, print culture, land disputes, the unequal valuation of African and European knowledge systems, the rise of ethnic patriotisms, African Independent Churches, and the surge of a literary scene concerned with the revival of “African narratives” in post-independence East Africa.) I will argue that reconstructing the modern destiny of ancient narratives such as “Simbi Nyaima” may provide historians, literature scholars and social scientists with a useful foray into some of the more overlooked aspects of the history of colonial and postcolonial Kenya.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
IFRA Nairobi (February 3, 2023). Doing Social History with stories in mordern Nyanza: “Simbi Nyaima,” 1938-1982. IFRA Nairobi. Retrieved April 19, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/pw35