Language, Resistance and Subversive Identities in the Matatu Sub-Culture

Abstract

In this article, the author attempts a characterization of a matatu sub-culture that has distinct values, practices and norms that tend to resist, defy or challenge the mainstream culture in Kenya. This sub-culture is constructed as a means of providing an identity for individuals and members of the group as well as negotiating the relationship between them and the rest of society. Members of the matatu sub-culture are predominantly working class young men from poor backgrounds who include matatu crew (drivers, conductors, touts), graphic designers and graffiti artists. They have, over time, developed a unique ways and styles including manner of speech, choice of vocabulary and symbols of communication, ideology, dress code, music, among other features. The author uses sociological theories to conceptualize the matatu sub-culture and then applies an eclectic approach that combines principles of sociolinguistics, stylistics and discourse analysis to examine how the matatu sub-culture is expressed and enacted using various linguistic choices and practices in ways that tend to exhibit either manifest or subtle resistance to conventional social norms, values and practices.  Emphasis is given to the use of Sheng, slang and jargon; eccentric vocabulary and stylistic techniques that express contempt, sarcasm, deviance or ridicule to the hegemonic social structures as well as those that aim to mock, challenge and resist authorities including policy makers and the political class in general.