Thesis Title: Adult Figures and Children’s Character Formation in Selected Children’s Literary Texts in Kenya

Student’s Name: Nyongesa Namukuru Milcah

SUPERVISORS

1. Joseph Musungu
2. Felix Orina                                                         

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on role and influence of adult figures on children’s character formation in the selected children’s literary texts in Kenya. Using the texts; Uncle Sese, The Sunday School Project, Naomi and Cindy Naomi and the Cannibals and Naomi in her New School, the study aims at identifying different contexts that give rise to adult figures creating the ground for interaction and socialization with children. This study is guided by the following objectives; First, to establish the relationship between adult character types and contemporary contexts represented in the texts under study, second, to examine how the treatment of adult character types in children’s fiction may affect children’s character and finally, to determine the extent to which the author’s moral vision influences their linguistic choices. The study uses formalism theory to foreground the form in children’s literary texts. Formalism theory pays attention to plot and story which has helped the researcher to analyze the events in the text independently without external interference. Formalism theorists refer to this as Autollic something that works autonomously and justifies itself without having an external purpose and because of the nature of children, their innocence and culpability, formalism theory plays a pivotal role since it pays attention to only form and content. The study relies on textual analysis using the techniques of descriptive qualitative research where the selected children’s literary texts are taken as the central focus of analysis and interpretation. Purposive sampling is used to select texts basing on the content and the information of the books by different authors in line with the topic of research. For data collection, the researcher began with comprehensive reading of the texts under the study to form an informed base for the research. The analysis began after texts were selected among children’s literary texts in Kenya basing on the content, form and style used. The study found that different character types are born from different contemporary contexts, children adapt certain types of behaviors through emulation and the growing up children relate well with others using the language borrowed through emulation. The significance of the study is to make contributions towards understanding aspects in children’s literature, to create debate on/in children’s literature about emerging issues among children and from the view point of adult figures in children’s character formation. The study advocate for a literature that will contribute at large to character formation among children to make them be reliable in the current generation.