The semiotics of space and time in the Turkana traditional marriage ceremony

Abstract

This paper discusses the semiotic use of time and space among the Turkana during Akuuta, the traditional marriage ceremony. All through the ceremony that lasts three days and takes place in the open, the sequence of processes and positioning of participants are regulated mostly by time and space. As a ritual, marriage ceremonies reflect a people’s culture, beliefs and attitudes hence deserving analysis from a literary perspective. The data analysed in this paper was collected through observation of a traditional marriage ceremony in Turkana County, Kenya. The study is guided by Umberto Eco’s Theory of Semiotics that calls for the treatment of every cultural phenomenon as communicative and meaning making. The findings reveal that the use of space and time, movements, and actions performed within the ceremonial space convey meanings related to love, commitment, fertility, and social cohesion. For example, the exchange of gifts, the tying of ceremonial knots, and the sharing of symbolic foods all carry deep cultural significance within the Turkana marriage ceremony.