The narrative techniques and confessional patterns in Joan Thatiah’s Confessions of Nairobi Women (2022) and Confessions of Nairobi Men (2023)
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Abstract
This study examines the confessional narrative techniques used to construct confessional patterns in Joan Thatiah’s Confessions of Nairobi Women (2022) and Confessions of Nairobi Men (2023). The article adopts a qualitative research design and applies Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory. The texts are purposively selected and subjected to close reading and textual analysis. The article reveals that Thatiah uses narrative journalism to enhance credibility. Further, the confessions begin in medias res, then, by use of flashbacks and flashforwards, it explains the conflict through a cyclical plot, therefore, foregrounding the confessional moment, making confession a quest for meaning. Thirdly, the chapters in the texts are distinct confessions with different confessants and events. The parallel confessional narratives therein aim at archiving Kenyan lived experiences. Finally, the article postulates a tripartite confessional “I” made up of historical “I”, narrating “I,”, and reflective “I”. This allows dialogue between the confessant’s past and present and an evaluation of one’s life. In conclusion, this article demonstrates that confessions are not merely personal stories, but they are dynamic and are narratively established through specific techniques and patterns. This study adds to the Kenyan confessional discourse by demonstrating that narrative techniques are important in literary confessions.
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