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Ken Junior Lipenga

Professor, Literary Studies https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8592-8999

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

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Brief profile


  • Ken Junior Lipenga holds an MA in Literature from the University of Malawi and a Ph.D. in Literature from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is currently a Professor of English Literature at the University of Malawi. His research interests include disability studies and postcolonial literature. He has published articles in several journals, including the African Journal of Disability, The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, and the Journal of African Cultural Studies.

Research fields of focus

Disability Studies

Education/Academic Qualification


  • Stellenbosch University

  • Qualification
    PhD in English Studies (English Studies )
  • Start year - Award year
    2011 - 2014
  • Address
    Matieland, ZA

Undergraduate courses


  • FRE212 - Communication and Civilisation
  • ENG322 - History and Principles of Literary Criticism
  • ENG424 - Introduction to Journalism
  • ENG111 - Usage of English and Composition
  • ENG211 - Introduction to African Poetry and Plays
  • ENG214 - Introduction to English Literature
  • ENG222 - Practical English Usage and Expression
  • ENG223 - Introduction to The African Novel and Short Story
  • ENG319 - Malawian Literature
  • ENG325 - Description of English I
  • ENG417 - Description of English II
  • ENG425 - Studies in African Poetry
  • ENG312 - Literary Theory I
  • ENG426 - The European Novel
  • ENG424 - Introduction to Journalism
  • ENG124 - Introduction to Literature
  • ENG318 - Carribean Literature
  • ENG317 - African American Literature
  • ENG414 - Currents of Thought in African Literature
  • ENG323 - Creative Writing
  • ENG327 - The English Novel
  • ENG422 - American Literature
  • ENG314 - Research Methods
  • ENG113 - Practical Criticism
  • ENG411 - Shakespeare
  • ENG412 - Literary Theory II
  • LCS121 - Achebe and His World
  • ENG427 - Long Essay
Filters for Research Outputs
Sustainable Development Goals
Type
Publication Year

2026

Attitudes about Altitudes: Ecopoetic Visions of Mulanje Mountain in Malawian Verse

Research output : other

Publication Year: 2026, doi: 10.1093/isle/isag004

2023

Rap Music and the Youth in Malawi

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1

Sociology Psychology Social science Gender studies Negotiation

Introduction

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_1

Computer science

Locating Rap in Malawi’s Music Industry

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_2

Argument (complex analysis) Medicine Sociology Gender studies Art

The Language of Malawian Rap

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_3

Computer science Sociology Linguistics Key (lock) Focus (optics)

Verses of Youth Political Participation

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_4

Sociology Political science Social science Vulnerability (computing) Computer security

Youth, Alcohol and the Forging of Community

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_5

Materials science Chemistry Metallurgy Psychology Alcohol

Reppin’ the Ghetto: Space and Identity

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_6

Sociology Art Epistemology Philosophy Pedagogy

Social Consciousness: The Rapper as an Activist

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_7

Pandemic Misinformation Medicine Computer science Sociology

Making Rap Malawian: Cultural Appropriation and Authenticity

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_8

Sociology Art Epistemology Philosophy Aesthetics

Conclusion: The Future of Malawian Rap

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : book-chapter

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15251-1_9

Realisation Sociology Political science History Media studies

African poetry and the intellectual: A critique of the academy in verse

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1177/00219894211005519

Traditional Knowledge Scrutiny Indigenization Sociology Political science

Black Women and Self-Care: A Black Feminist Reading of Upile Chisala’s Poetry

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga, Asante Lucy...

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2023, doi: 10.1353/tsw.2023.a913029

Sociology Gender studies Literature Art Philosophy

2022

“Maybe We Carry Our Mothers’ Traumas in Our Bones”: Exploring the Paradox of Matrophobia in Upile Chisala’s Poetry

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2022, doi: 10.1080/00497878.2022.2053978

Carry (investment) Psychology Literature Art Business

Imagining the Malawian urban space in Lawrence Kadzitche’s Katakwe Kutauni

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2022, doi: 10.1080/02572117.2022.2094080

Capital city Capital (architecture) Sociology Geography Gender studies

2021

The Madando Rhetoric: Musical Critiques of Electoral Management in Malawi

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2021, doi: 10.1080/03057070.2021.1987829

Opposition (politics) Sociology Political science Literature Art

The Prophet in Music: Lyrical Representations of the Shepherd Bushiri Discourse

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2021, doi: 10.1080/23277408.2021.1927939

Psychology Literature Art Philosophy Linguistics

Striking Bold Strokes: Albinism and Stigma in Malawian Spoken Word Poetry

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga, Tiwonge Katemecha

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2021, doi: 10.25159/2663-6565/9330

Biology Sociology Psychology Literature Art

2020

Reading Precarity, Disability and Narrative Agency in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel and Measuring Time

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2020, doi: 10.1080/1013929X.2020.1795351

Argument (complex analysis) Disability studies Ableism Presentation (obstetrics) Medicine

Lake lore: a study of lacustrine artistic representations in the Malawian imaginary

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2020, doi: 10.1080/21674736.2020.1752000

The Imaginary Sociology Political science Psychology Power (physics)

Youth, alcohol and the forging of community in Malawian hip-hop music

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2020, doi: 10.53228/njas.v29i3.528

2019

Lunatics and Intellectuals: Madness in Malawian Poetry

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2019, doi: 10.1080/18125441.2019.1647450

Literature Art Poetry

Tales of Political Monuments in Malawi: Re-storying National History

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2019, doi: 10.1080/23277408.2019.1644837

HERO The Imaginary Statue Sociology Political science

The New Normal: Enfreakment in Saga

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2019, doi: 10.16995/cg.161

Argument (complex analysis) Presentation (obstetrics) FREAK Sociology Psychology

Poets and Prostitutes: Sexual Morality in Malawian Poetry

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2019, doi: 10.25159/2663-6565/5867

Sympathy Opposition (politics) Silence Sociology Political science

2018

A Country Laughing at Itself: Malawian Humour in the Digital Age

Author(s) : Emmanuel Ngwira, Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2018, doi: 10.1080/00138398.2018.1540156

Laughter Sociology Political science Psychology Gender studies

Voicing marginality: disability in Leila Aboulela's Lyrics Alley

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2018, doi: 10.1080/13696815.2015.1113127

Lyrics Alley Sociology Political science Gender studies

2016

Through the Disability Lens. Revisiting Ousmane Sembène’s Xala (1975) and Camp de Thiaroye (1988)

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : other

Publication Year: 2016, doi: 10.7312/fras17748-017

Physics Psychology Art Optics Psychoanalysis

2015

Weaving a path from the past: Gender, disability and narrative enablement in Zulu Love Letter

Author(s) : Ken Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2015, doi: 10.1080/10130950.2015.1038097

Zulu Weaving Computer science Sociology Psychology

2014

Sex Outlaws: Challenges to Homophobia in Stanley Kenani’s ‘Love on Trial’ and Monica Arac de Nyeko’s ‘Jambula Tree’

Author(s) : Ken Junior Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2014, doi: 10.18573/ipics.67

Sociology Psychology Narrative Gender studies Literature

Disability and masculinity in South African autosomatography

Author(s) : Ken J. Lipenga

Research output : journal-article

Publication Year: 2014, doi: 10.4102/ajod.v3i1.85

Zulu Disability studies Hegemonic masculinity Referent Sociology

Awards

Professional Services

Funding and grants acquired

  • Narrative enablement : constructions of disability in contemporary African imaginaries

    grant_number: grant.13070423
  • Type
    Grant
  • Period
    2014-04-01 - Present
  • Funder
    National Research Foundation
    Pretoria, ZA

  • Youth, Alcohol, and the Forging of Community in Malawian Hip-Hop Music

    grant_number: grant.9919259
  • Type
    Grant
  • Period
    2021-06-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Funder
    Council for International Exchange of Scholars
    Washington D.C., US

  • Conference Attendance: 17th Triennial Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) 2016

  • Type
    Award
  • Period
    2016-07 - 2016-07
  • Funder
    Association of Commonwealth Universities
    London, GB
Filters for projects
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Employment and positions held

  • Professor

    University of Malawi — English
  • 2004-12-12 - Present
  • Zomba, Southern Region, MW

Professional Activities

No invited positions available