Culture as an Impediment to Socio-Economic Development in Henry Ole Kulet’s Blossoms of the Savannah

Abstract

This paper examines how Maasai traditional cultural practices and beliefs in Ole Kulet‘s novel Blossoms of the Savannah hinder socio-economic development. The cultural practices that incumber socio-economic progress has implication on both the immediate Maasai community (as illustrated through Nasila village) and the society at large. In most societies in Africa, traditional and cultural practices inform and influence the daily experiences and behavior of its people. Early marriages and female genital mutilation are practiced in a number of communities across the African continent in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Guinea among others. One of this communities is the Maasai community in Kenya which is the physical setting of Blossoms of the savannah. Some traditional practices among the Maasai are detrimental as is evident in the long-term impact on the psychological, physical and the general wellbeing of its members. This paper focuses on the intertwinement of early marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM), and patriarchy and how they impact the socio-economic development in the society. Early marriages and female genital mutilation practices are socio-economically retrogressive in a 21st century society. These traditional practices and customs have roots in the social, cultural, economic, historical and political discourse encapsulated within the patriarchal structures and realized through gender inequality. This paper therefore focuses on how the traditional practices impede the realization of development in the Maasai community as advanced in Blossoms of the Savannah.