Class Struggles as reflected In Selected Banyoro Folk Songs

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze class struggles as reflected in the Banyoro folksongs. The Banyoro have different classes of people. However according to O. Bertell (1968) Class divides people into developed capitalist class and proletariat class. The capitalist class in Bunyoro include the whites, the Baganda who invaded the kingdom because of its resources like land. It also includes the ruling class and royal clans (ababito) plus the landlords, these owned large pieces of land given to them by the king for their loyalty. The proletariat class includes the peasants and working class. The word class in this study refers to these two groups of people as already explained. The other categories of people as might be identified fall within these two groups of people, as one would wish to classify. Class struggles in this study were as a result of the conflicts between these classes of people. The class conflicts identified in the study arose from exploitation, oppression, and struggle for control of resources. This research study concludes that class struggles in Bunyoro kingdom as reflected in the Banyoro folksongs are due to conflicts between the whites, the Baganda, the Bunyoro ruling class and the Banyoro.