The aim of this essay is to determine where on a continuum between speech and writingwritten computer-mediated communication (chat language) would be placed. The essaymakes use of a methodology based on Biber (1988). This was done using a quantitativeresearch methodology based on counting and comparing specific linguistic features in different texts. The data for chat language came from the NPS Chat Corpus. Other data used were transcripts of spoken discourse as well as a popular scientific text as material for comparison. This essay is mainly focused on four features: the use of pronouns, passives, ellipsis and the type/token ration of each individual text. Despite the limited size of the material sampled, the results showed that chat language had more in common overall with speech than with writing.

The article outlines recent trends in popular writing in Swahili in Kenya and Tanzania, the research being mainly based on titles published after the year 2000, by both well-known writers and newcomers. The author also generalises on some basic social and cultural factors accountable for the present state of popular literature in both countries.

The article outlines recent trends in popular writing in Swahili in Kenya and Tanzania, the research being mainly based on titles published after the year 2000, by both well-known writers and newcomers. The author also generalises on some basic social and cultural factors accountable for the present state of popular literature in both countries.

This paper investigates the latest development of ‘Swahili popular web literature’ that I call fasihi pendwa pepe in 21st century Tanzania. With the enhancement of communication technologies, further boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Swahili online literature has been mobilised on the social media. The objectives are not only to support its flourishing as a window displaying writers, attracting readers and contributing to the vibrant environment that surrounds it, but online literature is also ethically committed to community building. This study proposes a philosophical reading of digital popular novels that bridges the gap between élite and popular literature and contributes to the discipline of Afrophone philosophy. The original case study analyses two magazines that circulate on the social media, ‘Ngurumo ya Mwandishi’ (The Author’s Roar, Mwambe) and ‘Tulizo’ (Comfort, Masai), as well as two novels, ‘Harufu ya Kifo’ (Smell of Death, Mwambe 2020) and ‘Mwimbula’ (The Sacrificial Animal, Masai 2023).