This article deals with deviation in Euphrase Kezilahabi´s novel Gamba la Nyoka (1979). We analyse four different types of deviation, namely grammatical, lexical, phonological, and semantic deviation. The objective of this study is to combine linguistic analysis with literary riticism, in order to show how these different types of deviation correspond with the overall message the author conveys in this novel, which is a political novel dealing with the era of establishing Ujamaa policies in rural Tanzania.

This paper analyses signs of ill-omen in the selected literary Swahili prose of Euphrase Kezilahabi published between 1971-1991. We interrogate their indicative interpretation as foregrounded by the author. We shall specifically concentrate on how he artistically exploits the entrenched ill-omen belief system of his society to drive his themes and artistic techniques. Though critics have analysed some elements of literary symbolism in the works of Euphrase Kezilahabi, this paper, in particular, concentrates on the exploration of signs of ill-omen scattered in several of his prose works.

Makala hii inachambua sitiari katika Kichomi, diwani ya kwanza ya marehemu Euphrase Kezilahabi. Mashairi yaliyochunguzwa yanahusika na dhamira tatu za kijumla: maana ya maisha, udhalimu wa kikoloni, na hali ya sasa ya Afrika. Mashairi yanayochambuliwa ni: “Nimechoka”, “Mwamba Ziwani”, “Fungueni Mlango”, na “Kisu Mkononi” (dhamira ya “maana ya maisha”); “Hadithi ya Mzee” (dhamira ya “udhalimu wa kikoloni”); “Afrika na Watu Wake”, “Kumbe”, na “Namagondo” (hali ya sasa ya Afrika). Mashairi haya yako kwenye muundo usiofuata urari wa vina na mizani. Lengo la makala hii si kufanya uchambuzi wa kina bali ni kuonyesha kuwa sitiari ni mbinu ya msingi ya mshairi katika kuwasilisha maana na mtazamo wake katika dhamira kadhaa. Nimeteua mashairi hayo tu ili kudhihirisha mbinu ya kisitiari katika dhamira zilizotajwa. Uchambuzi wa sitiari umezingatia mkabala wa kisemantiki unaotambua vipengele vitatu katika muundo wa sitiari: kifananishi, kitajwa na kiungo (taz. Richards 1936; Leech 1969). Hitimisho muhimu ni kwamba sitiari ni mbinu inayoyawezesha mashairi hayo kuchanuza mawazo na hisia kwa uwazi na athari nzito. / This article analyses metaphors in Kichomi, the first collection of poems by the late Euphrase Kezilahabi. The poems analysed deal with the following main themes: the meaning of life, colonial oppression, and the current state of Africa. The poems under discussion are: “Nimechoka” (I Am Tired), “Mwamba Ziwani” (Rock in Lake), “Fungueni Mlango” (Open the Door), na “Kisu Mkononi” (Knife in Hand; theme: meaning of life); “Hadithi ya Mzee” (An Old Man’s Tale) (theme: colonial oppression); “Afrika na Watu Wake” (Africa and Its People), “Kumbe” (That’s Why ), and “Namagondo” (Namagondo; theme: current state of Africa). The structure of these poems does not follow the conventional rules of metre and rhyme. The aim of this article is not a thorough analysis, but to show that metaphor is a fundamental device for the poet to present meaning and his view concerning a variety of themes. I have selected these poems only in order to make the device of metaphor clear concerning the mentioned themes. The analysis proceeds on a semantic approach which recognizes three aspects of metaphor: vehicle, tenor and ground (cf. Richards (1936); Leech (1969:153-56)). An important conclusion is that metaphor is a device which enables the poems to evoke thoughts and feelings in a candid manner and with a deep impact.

The only play by Kezilahabi, Marx`s shorts, is a political satire, so pungent that it has not yet been published, although its photocopied manuscript has been in circulation for almost twenty years (it is dated 1978). Probably it was written soon after Julius Nyerere`s pamphlet Azzmio la Arusha baada ya Miaka Kumi (1977), where he overtly admitted for the first time the failure of his policy, clearing the way for critical literary works.

Translating a Swahili literary work into French poses specific problems due to the small number of translations existing so far and the imaginary representations associated with these two languages in the translator’s mind. In the case of Euphrase Kezilahabi’s novels Nagona (1990) and Mzingile (1991), the task is complicated by the very peculiar nature of these narratives, whose apocalyptic substratum does not refer to an identifiable cultural universe but to the interstitial space between a world condemned to die and a world yet to be born. In this article I will provide some insights from my experience of translation of these two Swahili novels.

This paper deals with intertextuality in two contemporary Swahili novels: Euphrase Kezilahabi`s Nagona (1987/1990) and William E. Mkufya`s Ziraili na Zirani (1999). It is a first approach to intertextual relations between these two novels. My aim is to show how the contemporary Swahili novel has further opened up its scope to universal questions of mankind. Nagona describes the journey of an unnamed protagonist through strangely abandoned landscapes and his surrealistic experience. It is written in a puzzling style between realism and hallucination. The second work, Ziraili na Zirani, is a novel written in the style of an epic. Dwelling on its literary role models, which are Dante`s Divina Commedia (1312-1321) and Milton`s Paradise Lost (1658-1665), it describes the battle over religion. It takes the reader on a fantastic journey between heaven, paradise and hell, with several excursions to the historical and contemporary malices and catastrophes on earth.

This paper deals with intertextuality in two contemporary Swahili novels: Euphrase Kezilahabi`s Nagona (1987/1990) and William E. Mkufya`s Ziraili na Zirani (1999). It is a first approach to intertextual relations between these two novels. My aim is to show how the contemporary Swahili novel has further opened up its scope to universal questions of mankind. Nagona describes the journey of an unnamed protagonist through strangely abandoned landscapes and his surrealistic experience. It is written in a puzzling style between realism and hallucination. The second work, Ziraili na Zirani, is a novel written in the style of an epic. Dwelling on its literary role models, which are Dante`s Divina Commedia (1312-1321) and Milton`s Paradise Lost (1658-1665), it describes the battle over religion. It takes the reader on a fantastic journey between heaven, paradise and hell, with several excursions to the historical and contemporary malices and catastrophes on earth.

This paper looks at traditions and modernities in terms of a spectrum representation and thus challenges the previously accepted notion of tradition and modernity as an either/or matter where tradition is seen to hold obstacles assumed to block progression towards modernity. With this in mind, it considers Ebrahim Hussein´s title for his play Wakati Ukuta (Time is a Wall) and Euphrase Kezilahabi´s novel Gamba la Nyoka (The snake´s skin) to illustrate the idea of multiple modernities where the relationship between tradition and modernity is seen in terms of tension between cultural homogenisation and cultural heterogenisation where various ´scapes´ containing traditions are inflected by historical, linguistic and political situatedness of different actors. Key themes are discussed in this paper displaying the indigenised ethnoscape of East Africa with various modernities and the different tensions this can produce in view of long-standing traditions. Individualism is the prevailing theme in the emergence of modernity. With this in mind, extramarital relationships, foreign behaviours, education and age/generational differences are discussed with reference to the two literary texts. These themes exemplify the thematic trajectory of the spectrum representation of traditions and modernities in Swahili literature, showing belonging to the present but also awareness of the past. This paper concludes that modernities should no longer be seen as a foreign invasion aiming to eradicate tradition but as metropolises that can be indigenised and incorporated into existing traditions. The observations in this paper demonstrate that the link between traditions and modernities is not a direct transition from one to the other but one of more complex affiliation. This paper lays foundations for broader research into this relationship and gives new insight into the illustration and critique of various texts.