DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2016.v04i11.002

Pages: 1364-1376

Displacement from one’s country of origin or their area of residence is traumatic experience. Yet this is a common phenomenon today due to human conflict, administrative policies and natural calamities. The displaced persons normally with a sense of belonging to their communities and place of origin find themselves detached from these places and people living in places they have never lived in and with new people. They are also dispossessed of their livelihoods and often they have to rely on assistance from their hosts for survival. Such drastic changes in life situations lead to the displaced losing their place in the society and having to make a reassessment of themselves vis-a-vis the non-displaced and thus to a change in their self-identity. This paper investigates the self- identity of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kenya following the 2007 general elections. The IDPs experienced violence from their neighbours that resulted in death of their relatives, maiming, loss of property and eviction. They went to live in camps, with their relatives or in rented accommodation. They have indicated that they have not been fairly treated and were reported in the media as holding demonstrations complaining of neglect and demanding resettlement. The paper traces the history and development of inter-ethnic and election-related violence in Kenya and its effects and finally zooms in on the victims of the 2007 post-election violence. The discourse of the IDPs in newspapers, in interviews and other written sources will be examined for their self-identity. The Discourse Historical Approach of Critical Discourse Analysis will provide the theoretical framework for the analysis.