Food is useful in the transference of semantic aspects that are vital in the construction of masculinity in society. Consequently, foodsemic metaphors that aid in the conceptualization of omosacha (a man) are pervasive in Ekegusii. Metaphor use may, however, present difficulties in comprehension due to the various interpretations that may be assigned to each of them. The meaning of Ekegusii foodsemic metaphors may, therefore, be elusive to the native speakers of Ekegusii. The paper employs the principle of conceptual mental spaces to interpret Ekegusii foodsemic metaphor within the Cognitive Linguistics framework. The study adopts descriptive research design. First, the terms that are used to describe men in Ekegusii are identified by administering an interview schedule to 48 Ekegusii native respondents purposively sampled on the basis of gender. The data collected is then subjected to the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) in which four annotators are used to identify Ekegusii male metaphors. Through the MIPVU, 52 metaphors are identified. The paper then selects one metaphor that describes a man as food hence the Ekegusii foodsemic metaphor for this study. The research reveals that the integration of the four conceptual mental spaces that include two input spaces, the generic space and the blended space is resourceful in structuring a man as a symbol of nourishment in Ekegusii. Moreover, the MIPVU is unveiled as a useful metaphor identification method that provides a clear guide in the establishment of precise metaphors for study. The study concludes that metaphors are integral components of communication and should be explained using the Cognitive Linguistics paradigm. The findings of the study will contribute to Linguistics especially the field of Cognitive Linguistics which is relatively new and has not been subjected to extensive research. In addition, the findings will be useful to metaphor scholars in comprehending Ekegusii male metaphors and culture.

The use of violence as means of addressing differences between groups and individuals is common. The world has witnessed wars and small scale violence resulting from disagreements.  Violence however leaves behind trails of destruction and pain in its wake. It also generally perceived as a sign of failure of the power of the intellect to address issues. It is therefore regarded as a primitive method which is employed as a  last resort. Parties that have been involved in violence may therefore find need to explain the reasons for their involvement and often tend to lay blame for the violence elsewhere. This paper investigates the discursive resources employed in the management of blame in conflict situations taking the case of the Kenyan Internally Displaced Persons. The paper employs Discursive Psychology one of the approaches to discourse analysis to investigate the management of the blame arising from the violence that followed Kenya’s 2007 elections. The paper draws from a research carried out by the author among 24 Internally Displaced Persons in Kenya’s 2007/2008 post-election violence. The research sample comprised an equal number of male and female respondents who were from the different communities involved in the violence.The data was collected by means of in-depth interviews.