The Depiction of Modes of Parenting in Moses Isegawa’s Abyssinian Chronicles

Abstract

This article examines the portrayal of the modes of parenting in Moses Isegawa’s Abyssinian Chronicles (2000). There are various forms of parenting according to scholars like Diana Baumrid. I put my modes of parenting into two categories; cruel parenting and good and caring parenting. I also argue that the community plays a lot in parenting. Therefore, I interrogate how the community parents the children in the text. In my discussion, I show that parenting moves and surpasses being a role for just biological parents and moves to all members of the community and therefore, my judgment of parenting does not just concern biological parents but concerns all those who play a role in a child’s upbringing. I also bring out the fact that a person’s adult behaviour is influenced by the kind of parenting he/she faced as a child. All this is discussed as I take a close look at the narrative techniques that Isegawa uses to depict the modes of parenting that I discuss