Negotiating Young Adulthood in Ugandan Literature: Identity in Kimenye’s Moses Series and Namukasa’s Stories

Abstract

This article examines the negotiation of young adulthood and identity formation in Ugandan literature through a close reading of Barbara Kimenye’s Moses series and Glaydah Namukasa’s short stories The Pact and Girlie. The study situates these works within broader African literary discourses on adolescence, transition, and socio-cultural belonging, with specific attention to the Ugandan postcolonial context. Drawing from postcolonial theory, youth studies, and identity construction frameworks, it interrogates how young protagonists navigate shifting roles, expectations, and self-concepts amidst the intersecting pressures of family, peers, education, and socio-economic change. Kimenye’s Moses series, set primarily in a Ugandan boarding school, portrays adolescence as a space of playful rebellion, communal bonding, and gradual moral negotiation. The protagonist, Moses, becomes a focal point for exploring the tensions between institutional authority and youthful agency, revealing how humour and camaraderie serve as tools for self-assertion and social learning. In contrast, Namukasa’s stories, set against contemporary urban and peri-urban backdrops, confront the challenges of girlhood and young womanhood, including issues of friendship, sexuality, betrayal, and socio-economic vulnerability. Through The Pact and Girlie, Namukasa foregrounds the gendered dimensions of young adulthood, showing how female protagonists navigate restrictive cultural scripts while asserting individual desires. By juxtaposing Kimenye’s light-hearted, male-centred narratives with Namukasa’s more intimate and gender-conscious portrayals, this article reveals how Ugandan children’s and young adult literature collectively engages with themes of resilience, negotiation, and identity-making. It argues that these works challenge linear, Western-centric models of adolescence by depicting it as a socially embedded, culturally mediated, and at times precarious process. The analysis highlights how language, narrative voice, and character agency reflect both continuity and change in Ugandan youth experiences. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that Kimenye and Namukasa contribute significantly to African literary representations of young adulthood, offering nuanced portraits that resist reductive categorisations. Their works not only document the lived realities of Ugandan youth but also invite critical reflection on how identity is actively shaped within complex socio-cultural and historical landscapes. This intersectional reading underscores the role of Ugandan literature in expanding global understandings of adolescence and identity beyond dominant Euro-American frameworks.