Meaning in benga music of western Kenya

Abstract

This article presents three ethnographic case studies relating to benga music and related genres in Kisumu town in western Kenya that point to ways in which musical performances can be understood as affording multiple layers of meaning. I suggest that musical performance be approached as a multivalent process within which many meanings and interpretations are projected and received, and I outline ways in which benga and related musical performances (gospel singing, nyatiti playing and praise singing) can be understood through a stylistics of listening in which the reception of meaning and the experience of listening are coextensive.