Is Peter Your Real Name? An Autohistoria-Teoría Exploration of Self-Identity Conflict through Cultural Naming and Colonial

Abstract

This study critically examines the enduring impact of colonialism on cultural and personal identity through the imposition of European names on the Kikuyu people of Kenya. Orchestrated by Christian missionaries and colonial administrators, this renaming served as a deliberate mechanism of cultural domination, severing vital connections between individuals and their ancestral, spiritual, and communal roots. In Kikuyu cosmology, names carry deep significance, linking individuals to lineage, memory, and land. The disruption of this system constituted a profound erasure of identity. In response, Kikuyu communities developed a dual naming practice: European names were adopted in colonial public domains, while indigenous names were preserved in private and familial contexts. This negotiation of identity under colonial rule illustrates both the psychological fragmentation imposed by colonial structures and the cultural resilience of the colonized. In the post-colonial era, the reclamation of traditional Kikuyu names has emerged as a powerful act of resistance and self-determination, even as European names continue to persist in contemporary Kenyan society, reflecting the lasting legacy of colonial power. Drawing on archival sources, missionary records, church registers, oral histories, and interviews, the study employed thematic analysis informed by postcolonial theoretical frameworks, including those of Foucault, Fanon, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Cultural validity was maintained by grounding the analysis in indigenous epistemologies, while reliability was ensured through triangulation and thematic consistency across diverse data sources. The findings underscore naming as a critical site of cultural struggle, highlighting how acts of linguistic imposition and resistance shape collective memory, post-colonial identity, and the ongoing quest for cultural sovereignty in Africa.