PORTRAYAL OF CORRUPTION IN THE XYZ SHOW IN KENYA

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the narrative structure of the XYZ Show in its representation of corruption in Kenya. Through episodic storytelling, the show constructs narratives that mirror real political events and institutional failures, allowing corruption to unfold as an expected and normalised part of governance and public life. Using a qualitative, multimodal approach, the researcher collected and analysed the visual, verbal, gestural, written, and actional modes used by the puppets in the episodes, in relation to the representation of corruption. The analysis was guided by the Peircean semiotic theory; the study analysed twenty purposively selected episodes addressing corruption. The researcher sampled episodes that mentioned major corruption scandals in the country, or that met the criteria for corruption events. Several themes emerged, demonstrating that corruption is deeply embedded in the storyline and communicated through satire, irony, and symbolism. The codes identified across the episodes included: corruption normalised, global satire, media as a watchdog, musical commentary, narrative irony, and symbolic scenarios. The findings demonstrate that the show constructs corruption as a systemic and normalised phenomenon through episodic plot cycles, satirical exaggeration, symbolic staging, and recurring narrative motifs. The study contributes to media scholarship by illustrating how indirect narrative strategies enable critical political commentary while negotiating censorship and political risk in semi-authoritarian contexts. The study recommends that future research should explore audience interpretations of these narrative structures to assess how satire influences perceptions of corruption. Comparative studies across African satirical programs may further illuminate the role of narrative form in political critique.