Abdilatif Abdalla : poet in politics / edited by Rose Marie Beck & Kai Kresse.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Beck, Rose Marie, editor.

Kresse, Kai, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946---Criticism and interpretation.

Abdalla, Abdilatif.

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946---Political and social views.

Swahili poetry--20th century--History and criticism.

Swahili poetry.

Political activists--Kenya.

Political activists.

Kenya--Politics and government--20th century.

Kenya.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (156 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania : Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Abdilatif Abdalla: Poet in Politics �celebrates the work of Abdilatif Abdalla, one of Kenya�s most well-known poets and a committed political activist. It includes commentary essays on aspects of Abdilatif Abdalla�s work and life, through inter-weaving perspectives on poetry and politics, language and history; with contributions by East African writers and scholars of Swahili literature, including Ngugi wa Thiong�o, Said Khamis, Ken Walibora, Ahmed Rajab, Mohamed Bakari, and Sheikh Abdilahi Nassir, among others. Abdalla became famous in 1973, with the publication of Sauti ya Dhiki (Voice of Agony), a collection of poems written secretly in prison during three years of solitary confinement (1969-72). He was convicted of circulating pamphlets against Jomo Kenyatta�s KANU government, criticizing it as �dictatorial� and calling for political resistance in the pamphlet, 'Kenya: Twendapi?' (Kenya: where are we heading?). His poetry epitomizes the ongoing currency of classic Swahili form and language, while his work overall, including translations and editorships, exemplifies a two-way mediation between �traditional� and �modern� perspectives. It makes old and new voices of Swahili poetry and African literature accessible to a wider readership in East Africa, and beyond. Abdalla has lived in exile since 1973, in Tanzania, London, and subsequently, until now, in Germany. Nevertheless, Swahili literature and Kenyan politics have remained central to his life.

Contents:

Cover; Title page; Copyright page; Contents; Preface and Acknowledgements; Section 1 - Poet in Politics; 'Deep Language' Crossing Borders3; A Symposium; 'Deep Language' Crossing Borders; Conclusion; References; Abdilatif Abdalla and the Voice of Prophecy; Siwati; References; Abdilatif Abdalla: Poet and Activist. Voice of the Discontented, Voice of Humanity; Kenya: Twendapi? (1968); Sauti ya Dhiki (1973); The Writer and Poet in Society (1976 & 1978); The Right and Might of a Pen (1985); Peace, Love and Unity: for Whom? (1989; poem); A Political Address (1994)

Risala kwa Washiriki Katika Tamasha la Kitamaduni la Lamu (2009)In Conclusion; References; Whither Swahili Literature? Translation and the World Recognition of Abdilatif Abdalla's Sauti ya Dhiki; Wither Swahili Literature?; Sauti ya Dhiki and the Idea of Breakthrough; Never Will I Let Go; Impasses; Translation; Concluding Remarks; Works Cited; The Poetics of Abdilatif Abdalla's Agony; Doing Things with Words in Prison Poetry; But can words alone bring down a tyrant?; The Multiple "I"-s and Speaking in Tongues; Why Write; Swahili Prosody and Poetry as Autobiography; Masking the Message

A Range of Miscellaneous VoicesReferences; The Urgency of Memory in an Age of Greed; Section 2 - Selected Works of Abdilatif Abdalla; Kenya Twendapi Facsimile pages; Wajibu wa Mshairi Katika Jamii Yake; Matatizo ya Mwandishi wa Jamii Katika Afrika Huru; The Right and Might of a Pen; Section 3 - Contexts; Hope and Despair in Kenyan Politics During and After Independence; Existentialism and Swahili Literature; Introduction; Existentialism as a Philosophy and as a Literary Programme; Existentialist Writing in Swahili Literature; Existentialism without Programme: Swahili Poetry

An Existentialist Reading of Swahili LiteratureBibliography; Language in Africa Between the Local and the Global: How Political are 'Dialects'?; Introduction; What is 'Deep Language'?; Are 'Dialects' Political - or rather: How 'Political' Can Dialects Be?; Language in Africa between the Local and the Global; References; Section 4 - Congratulatory Texts; Kwa Abdilatif Abdalla; Kumsherehekea Abdilatif Abdalla; Dear Abdilatif, dear friends and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen; Ndugu wote; Kumkumbuka Bwana Abdilatif Abdalla -Mwalimu Wetu; List of Contributors; Back cover

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9789987753482

9987753485

OCLC:

946704363