Language, History, Ideology and Power Relations Used in Bullfighting Praise Poetry: A Case Study of Kakamega County, Kenya

Language is a people’s culture and it cannot be discussed singly without associating it to a certain community. The concept of bullfighting in the Isukha Community, Shinyalu Sub- County of Kakamega County in Kenya has a long history as it involves chanting of words that portray masculinity in this community. The Isukha praise poetry that is chanted during the Shilembe ritual and the indigenous sport of Mayo is one of the ways in which masculinity is portrayed during bullfighting. In this praise poetry, language, history, ideology and power relations are portrayed by the artists. This article highlights the application of the Masculinity theory and Critical Discourse Analysis theory in the analysis of the language, history, ideology and power relations used in praise poetry during the ritual of Shilembe and the indigenous sport of Mayo to portray masculinity. Praise poetry was used because it is a genre that is commonly used during bullfighting; it is unique and peculiar in this context.