Historicising through Song: A Semiotic Analysis of Selected Luhya Popular Songs

Abstract

This paper explores the construction and negotiation of Bukusu identity through popular songs, examining how these musical narratives historicise the community, represent particular localities, and portray political figures. The selected popular Bukusu songs analysed are Wanyonyi Omukoyi’s Mayi Muro, the Webuye Jua Kali’s Mama Mzazi, and Wanjala Okumu’s Likumba. By employing a Peircean semiotic framework, the study attends to signifiers and signifieds in textual (lyrical) analysis of how Bukusu popular songs encode and transmit historical narratives related to geography, community formation, and political authority. The analysis reveals that these songs function as ‘living archives’; for instance, Likumba recounts the colonial community leaders like the paramount chief, Nabongo Mumia; and foregrounds local leaders like the late Wamalwa Kijana, the vice president from the community while at the same time critiques (the then) contemporary political leaders like Musikari Kombo, preserving collective memories that complement official records and illuminate lived experiences of the Luhya of Western Kenya. The findings indicate that popular music constitutes a valuable, though presently under‑exploited, archive for reconstructing local histories. Scholars have traditionally privileged written documents and oral testimonies, overlooking songs because they are often dismissed as entertainment rather than systematic records of communal experience. This omission is especially salient today, as rapid sociopolitical change threatens the survival of everyday narratives that music routinely preserves. Furthermore, the songs’ lyrics contain explicit references to political figures, portraying leaders’ rhetoric in the pre‑electoral period and reflecting public response in the post‑electoral phase; in doing so, the songs dramati and critique these leaders, thereby revealing how authority is imagined, contested, and reaffirmed within particular locales and communities. Consequently, a focused investigation of popular music is essential for a fuller understanding of local historiography and leadership dynamics.