Mwandishi mashuhuri na msomi mtajika wa fasihi ya Kiswahili Kennedy Waliaula Walibora aliyezaliwa mnamo Januari 6, 1965 aliaga dunia mnamo April 10, 2020. Kimani Njogu, msomi mweledi wa fasihi ya Kiswahili na mwanaharakati wa kijamii, anamwenzi Marehemu Ken Walibora akisisitiza kuwa alitoa mchango madhubuti wenye maki na kina kwa lugha na fasihi ya Kiswahili. Kwa hilo, atakumbukwa na vizazi vijavyo. / Famous Swahili writer and renowned scholar Kennedy Waliaula Walibora who was born on January 6, 1965 passed away on April 10, 2020. Kimani Njogu, accomplished scholar of Swahili literature and social activist, honours the late Ken Walibora by emphasizing his most remarkable achievements and deep impact on Swahili language and literature. He will be remembered by generations to come.

Steven I. Y. E. Mrikaria, Mhadhiri wa Taasisi ya Taaluma za Kiswahili ya Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam aliyezaliwa mnamo Disemba 9, 1963, ameaga dunia mnamo Januari 17, 2018. Aldin K. Mutembei aliye msomi mweledi na mwanaharakati mashuhuri wa lugha na fasihi ya Kiswahili anamwenzi Marehemu Steven Mrikaria akielezea mchango wake katika utafiti na ufundishaji wa lugha na fasihi ya Kiswahili na kumkumbuka kama msomi mwenzake na rafiki yake wa siku nyingi. / Steven I. Y. E. Mrikaria, Lecturer at the Institute of Kiswahili Studies, University of Dar es Salaam who was born on December 9, 1963, passed away on January 17, 2018. Aldin K. Mutembei, accomplished scholar and most eminent activist of Swahili language and literature honours the late Steven Mrikaria by elucidating his contribution to the research and teaching of Swahili language and literature, and remembering him as a fellow scholar and a long-time friend.

In this paper, I focus on what we could call the ‘myth of Standard Swahili’ and its consequences for language teaching. Instead of distinguishing between ‘standard’ and ‘deviant’ varieties of Swahili, I suggest the term Greater Swahili to designate the whole of the varieties spoken in Africa and the African diaspora. Starting with some remarks on the ‘ideal’ Swahili speaker and the standardization of Swahili (a thoroughly political decision), this paper focuses on the challenge of using a Standard for teaching while language learners will meet mostly speakers of Greater Swahili. The diversity in the ways of speaking is not only a challenge for language teachers and learners, but also for speakers of the so-called core area. I will then discuss some examples to illustrate acceptance and comprehension of Greater Swahili by L2+ Swahili students. May aim is to underline the importance of Greater Swahili varieties for Swahili Studies.

The frame for this critical interpretation of the Kiswahili popular love song “Pili Mswahili” by Moreno Batamba et L’Orchestre Moja One (1981) is the discussion on African contributions to the making of modern Africa. The argument is that “Pili Mswahili” is an instance of the mwananchi’s, common person’s, agentive contribution to the establishment of Kiswahili as a national language in Kenya. The song is read as an urging of non-Swahili Kenyans to accept Kiswahili – which, in spite of its being an important lingua franca in Kenya, was, after all, the language of one ethnic group in a multi-ethnic state where “tribalism” is a major political factor – as their national language. It is shown that “Pili Mswahili” complemented the efforts of the makers and executors of government policy that had nation formation as the ultimate objective. Nation formation is understood to be a key strategy in the African appropriation of the African nation-state that started life as a colonial invention.

Tukizingatia kona maalum mjini Zanzibar, yaani ofisini, mtaani Shangani Posta, leo hii mimi na mwenzangu Muchi tunataka kuwahadithia kuhusu kikundi cha vijana wanaoitwa mapapasi ambao wamekuwa wanafanya kazi katika sekta ya utalii tangu miaka ya Themanini, japo nafasi yao haijawahi kutambuliwa wala kurasimishwa na serikali. Badala yake, mara nyingi vijana hao wamekuwa wanaudhiwa, kupuuzwa na kuadhibiwa kwa vile wanapwaya kwenye dira ya kiserikali ya kuigeuza Zanzibar kuwa mahali pa kutalii (kwa maana ya touristic destination) pakiingizwa kwenye mikondo mikali ya kiliberali mamboleo. Muchi na mimi tunajadiliana na kusimulia (hi)stori(a) yenye pande zaidi ya mbili. Tutawafafanulia kazi ya upapasi kama ilivyokuwa zamani na sasa hivi. Pia, tutatafakari juu ya nafasi ya upapasi (na uwenyeji) mjini Zanzibar, tukichambua maana, athari na uwezo wake. Hivyo, tutazingatia nafasi kama kielelezo cha au methodolojia ya kuchambua maneno ya Kiswahili kama vile yalivyo, lile linaloliwezesha, pamoja na maana yao. Umbo lenyewe la mazungumzo linasisitiza kuwa fikra zinazotokea kwenye mahusiano yanazaliwa konani, pale ambapo hakuna anayetiliwa (na kinachotiliwa) maanani kabla hajapewa (na hakijapewa) nafasi huko huko, nafasi ambayo hatimaye ndiyo ya Muchi na yangu pia. / By exploring the microcosmos of a junction (kona) in the neighbourhood of Shangani Posta, in the city of Zanzibar, today Muchi and I will tell you the (hi)story of a unique segment of Zanzibari male urban youth, known as mapapasi, working in tourism since the 80s. While been neglected and denied an official, formal and legal recognition by the government, they have been continuously harassed, intimidated and shamed because perceived as not belonging, not fitting the governmental project of turning Zanzibar into a touristic destination. The following conversation aims at disclosing the complexity hidden behind the mainstream one-sided picture of them. Looking at the past and contemporary practices of upapasi, Muchi and I reflect on the nafasi of upapasi in urban Zanzibar and matter-forth upapasi (and uwenyeji as an instance of spatial il/legalization), their meaning and their doing. In this way, we are attentive to the wor(l)d nafasi, as analytical lens to get a sense – kusikia, kuona, kuwa na – urban Zanzibar. The very form of conversation is meant to think thoughts as they are co-constituted by and within the relationalites of the kona, whereas no-body is predetermined, rather every-body is co-constituted in the very situatedness in which also Muchi and I (be)come-with.

Le swahili, avec presque 100 millions de locuteurs, est la langue bantu la plus dispersée, étudiée,diffusée et la plus importante. Cette langue officielle de la Tanzanie, du Kenya et de l’Ouganda est aussi une langue de fonctionnement de l’Union Africaine. Le swahili qui a absorbé un important lexique du monde arabe, fruit des interactions commerciales et sociales séculaires continue à adopter de plus en plus de termes anglais en conséquence de la colonisation et du développement en science et en technologie. Du fait que sa description fut dirigée et influencée par les Anglais et les Allemands, le rôle des Français fut négligé et écarté, laissant l’histoire du swahili incomplète.Pourtant, la contribution des Français à l’étude du swahili n’est pas négligeable, tout d’abord par l’œuvre des missionnaires de la Congrégation du Saint-Esprit et les Pères Blancs dès le XIXe siècle, puis depuis 1960 par les travaux menés en France par les enseignants/chercheurs de cette langue. La recherche effectuée à partir des archives ainsi que des interviews faites pour le compte de la présente étude montrent que le spiritain Charles SACLEUX joua un rôle considérable dans l’étude du swahili.Les documents rédigés par ce polyglotte et botaniste, dont le monumental dictionnaire swahili français(1939) révèlent des informations rares surtout en étymologie, lexicographie,dialectologie et ethnolinguistique ainsi qu’une perspective intégrale et descriptive contrairement à ses contemporains qui se servaient de la méthode prescriptive. Il est donc souhaitable que les dictionnaires de SACLEUX soient réétudiés et intégrés dans le swahili standard. / Following a research undertaken in archives, libraries as well as through interviews, the author describes the Swahili coast and the contact between Swahili and Europeans. While analyzing available early documents published by French researchers, he chronologically depicts endeavour and challenges of studying African languages during that era. Among them, Charles SACLEUX, a Spiritan priest performed an outstanding work especially in etymology, dialectology, lexicography and in ethno-linguistics. The study presents his biography together with his philosophical and methodological approaches. The findings show that in comparison with other researchers who, for the sake of standardizing the language, used a prescriptive approach, he opted for a descriptive. His publications present the language in its natural state. Together with Sacleux’ work, to complete the account, the thesis reserves one chapter for the current progress in teaching/learning as well as publishing on Swahili in France. The insights from the study suggest that it is important that some contents from Sacleux’ publications be revised and incorporated in contemporary Swahili literature.