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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:A socio-cultural understanding of death: a genre analysis of obituaries in a Kenyan newspaper
Author:Ondimu, Jacquiline
Year:2014
Periodical:Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Africa (ISSN 1753-5395)
Volume:45
Issue:1
Pages:3-22
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:newspapers
death
in memoriams
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10228195.2013.805799
Abstract:Obituaries are used to publicly announce death, giving details that can be used to identify the deceased. This article aims to analyse obituaries appearing in a Kenyan newspaper. Specifically, it investigates the schematic structure and language used with the aim of finding out the social perception and attitudes that Kenyans have towards the dead. The data comprise 356 announcements collected from the Daily Nation, one of the leading dailies in Kenya. The data are analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The genre analysis of the data reveals six obligatory moves in the structure of obituaries with some elements within the moves being optional. The research concludes that obituaries in Kenya can be considered as a genre with a distinct structure. The social cultural perceptions, values and attitudes that society has towards death greatly influence the language used in the writing of obituaries. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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