ABSTRACT

Despite only a minority of Kenya’s African population being literate at the time of independence, letter-writing constituted a significant form of engagement between grassroots political participants and national leaders during decolonisation. This paper sets out to ask why individuals and collaborative groups of writers sent large quantities of letters to their leaders, what they wrote about, and their expectations of the effect of their correspondence. It argues that these letters constituted a public sphere in decolonising Kenya. Through their letters, Kenyans debated development policy, critiqued the actions of the new governing elite, and set out their hopes and fears for independent rule. Furthermore, letter-writing also provided the opportunity for large groups of authors, often including those without sufficient literacy to write in their own name, to reach consensus among themselves on otherwise contentious issues. Just as importantly, the responses – at first constructive and later suspicious - of state officials to these letters illustrates the continuities and changes in the nature of governance during decolonisation. Letter-writing became less effective and more anachronistic as the post-colonial period progressed as the post-colonial state became reliant upon other rituals of political participation.

摘要

在独立之时，尽管肯尼亚的非洲人口中只有少数识字，但在非殖民化期间，写信还是基层政治参与者与国家领导人之间互动的一种重要形式。本文着手探讨为什么个人和作家协作团体向领导者发送大量信件，他们写了些什么以及对书信效果的期望。它认为，这些信件构成了非殖民化肯尼亚的公共领域。肯尼亚人通过书信辩论了发展政策，批评了新执政精英的行动，并表达了他们对独立统治的希望和恐惧。此外，写信还为大批作者提供了机会，通常包括那些没有足够读写能力以自己的名义写作的人，以使他们之间在其他有争议的问题上达成共识。同样重要的是，国家官员对这些信件的回应（起初是建设性的，后来是可疑的）说明了非殖民化期间治理性质的连续性和变化。随着后殖民时期的发展，后殖民时期开始依赖于其他政治参与仪式，信件的写作效率下降，变得过时了。