The aim of this article is to analyse allegories in the first four novels of the Swahili-writing author Euphrase Kezilahabi who is one of the most renowned authors in contemporary Tanzania. This analysis will be based on allegory as it is defined in literary studies. What is aimed at with this study is a hermeneutical interpretative approach to the allegories found in Kezilahabi`s early novels which shall be based on as much contexts as available: text-context, intertextual context, cultural context, historical context, only to mention the most important (cf. Mohlig 1994: 257). The text-context or co-text, however, is considered as the most reliable basis of such a study.

This study aims at studying one of the most important contemporary Kiswahili writers: Euphrase Kezilahabi. In a way this paper can be seen as a continuation of my earlier articles on the same writer. It is definitely different from the other ones though a certain thread links them: the interest in Kezilahabi`s philosophy. In this paper my interest is with two main motifs namely contemptus mundi and carpe diem. Contemptus mundi is a Latin expression for contemptible world, world as a bad place and one that is perceived contemptuously. I intend to explore the said motifs in Kezilahabi\'s prose works: Rosa Mistika, Kichwamaji, Gamba la Nyoka, Dunia Uwanja wa Fujo, Nagana and Mzingile. The latter two works are slightly short, lacking the novel length of the other four works. I do not, however, want to entangle myself in the polemics of genre as to what a novel or novella is. I will, however, regard the two as novellas at least by the virtue of their length.

This article is based upon the following concept: Poetry is a chain of representation of the sub-conscience that is the creative source. We can read the poetic text in many ways, but if we imagine the text as the stage of images, we can understand the fundamental abstraction of the conscience. In this sense, oneiric images in some of Euphrase Kezilahabi’s poems will be analysed by using insights from psychoanalytic theory.

This book constitutes a precious resource for scholars interested in Swahili poetry, literary translation and comparative literature. In my view, two fundamental sources of potential arise from the volume. Firstly, even if its release as an academic publication would probably mean distribution on a small scale, the translation of these creative writings into Italian contribute to enhancing the visibility and presence of Swahili literature in the international literary market. Secondly, the publication of the translation into Italian might be an important factor in promoting exchange between the fields of Swahili literature and the comparative criticism of African-language literatures in Italy.

The paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, the basic concepts, such as “African philosophy” and “Afrophone philosophies”, their relationship and the general context of the debate on “African philosophy” will be defined. The author anticipate her definition here and says that “Afrophone philosophies”are those discourses that are the medium of philosophical reflexion in a given culture. Thus in the second part of the paper, Alena Rettová concentrates on one specific case of a philosophical reflexion, that of reflecting philosophical influences in the late works of Euphrase Kezilahabi, Nagona (1990) and Mzingile (1991).

In Swahili Forum III Elena Bertoncini-Zubkova (1996) discussed some of the political criticisms, expressed in the form of literary motifs and imagery, that emerged in the works of the Tanzanian Swahili writer Euphrase Kezilahabi since 1978 onwards. She situates this emergent critique in the new political discoursive context where critical reviews of the Ujamaa policy could now be publicly voiced since President Nyerere himself admitted the failure of Ujamaa in his delivery Azimio la Arusha baada ya Miaka Kumi (The Arusha Declaration Ten Years Later, 1977). According to Bertoncini this admission `clear[ed] the way for critical literary works` of which Kezilahabi satirical play Kaputula la Marx (Marx`s Shorts, 1978) and his short story Mayai- Waziri wa maradhi (Eggs- Minister of Sickness, 1978) were among the first.

At times creative writing has been employed by Tanzanians in order to demonstrate the progress of African peoples and to reflect the changes, or lack of them, in this society. Popular songs are another continually vibrant medium of intellectual exchange which appeals to various sectors of the Tanzanian populace. Such oral and written works, directed as they are to local and intra-national audiences, are most often created in the Swahili language. The relatively young age of Tanzania’s population, with nearly 65 percent of the population under 25 years of age has brought about a situation in which this young and dynamic population is increasingly seeing their voice and interests represented in literary and aural/oral works. What are the themes and strategies utilized by such songwriters and literary artists and what are their trajectories of dissemination, consumption and activation within Tanzanian social contexts?

This paper illustrates the ways in which Kezilahabi’s 1985 dissertation makes its own daring contribution to the field of aesthetic criticism through the proposition of a new critical approach to African literature. Kezilahabi’s starting point for the elaboration this new critical approach is the realization of a prevailing tendency among literary critics to read African literature against formal and aesthetic paradigms deeply rooted in the Western literary and philosophical traditions. Opposed to the adoption of interpretative frames that do not acknowledge the philosophical implications involved in literary analysis, Kezilahabi affirms the importance of approaching literary production from within the artistic and philosophical tradition it stems from. Inspired by hermeneutic philosophy, especially in its “ontological turn” embodied by the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Kezilahabi’s focus is on literary interpretation as an ontological enterprise aimed at “situating” literature within a horizon of understanding where its proper universe of references can be disclosed.

This study elaborates how Kezilahabi depicts elements of Roman Catholic faith in his book Mzingile. Throughout the book religious institutions and the image of God are deconstructed. Nevertheless, Kezilahabi uses images derived from the Bible and Roman Catholic rituals to describe the new world order. This leads to the conclusion that the recognition of the existence of these concepts as concepts opens the way for the creation of a new world. Kezilahabi seems not to be convinced of the Roman Catholic faith being useful in search of the meaning of life. He rather builds upon the creative space, the emptiness left after the deconstruction of religious concepts.

Since the very moment of their appearance two recent works of Euphrase Kezilahabi- Nagana (1990) and Mzingile (1991)- hold a very special place in the whole development ofKiswahili literature, giving a lot of puzzles for the reader and a lot of material for the scholars of literature. I\' m going to dwell upon only one aspect of the book - its generic origin; for I think that this question will sooner or later arise. To this effect, I would dare first narrate - very briefly - the contents of the book I would refer to it as `the book´, although it actually consists of two parts - but these parts are so closely related to each other, that it seems possible to speak of Nagana and Mzingile as one piece of work. To what literary genre shall we ascribe the latest work of Tanzania` s leading writer? I would dare to come forward with such a question, because within the structure of the book there seem to be at least four more or less easily tangible stylistic plans. The first one I would call a folkloristic plan, for Kezilahabi uses widely and vividly the elements of African folklore - from mythological concepts to folklore plots, inserted into the narration. The second stylistic plan of the book can be called that of a parable - a parable in the sense of a self-contained story conveying didactic message to a reader or a listener. The book is full of such stories. The next stylistic plan one can call that of science-fiction - or, I would rather say, of antiutopia, for the author draws apocalyptic pictures of the world after the nuclear war, implyin the technique inherent to science-fiction novels. Finally, another stylistic plan of the book can be called realistic - for the author gives, for example, the descriptions of modern city, where the Msichana-Mwokozi dwells, or of an African village, when he tells about the childhood of the main character, using the traditions of east African realistic novel, portraying shortly but vividly urban and rural life. I would say that this realistic plan takes smaller place than the other three - but it is by no means less noticeable.