Conclusion: Popular ‘Futures’

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the key findings of the book and proposes an agenda for further research. It argues that for Whispers to have survived the rigours of the Kenyan media market, a highly selective and increasingly differentiated audience for nearly two decades, underscores the significance of popular fiction in Kenya’s public culture. Whispers touched a chord, articulating something which addressed the needs, hopes and fears of its audience. It notes that at the time of his death, Mutahi was writing similar columns in a Ugandan newspaper, while Kenyan television stations developed ‘products’ similar to Whispers. Both The Standard and The Nation have over the years made attempts at ‘reincarnating’ Whispers with possible surrogates. Mutahi’s death may therefore have marked not the end but the beginning of a new era for new forms of cultural production in the Kenyan popular media.