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.

The novel Ziraili na Zirani, by W. Mkufya, is characterised by the constant recurrence of themes featuring in theodicy, the philosophical ‘vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil’ (Oxford dictionaries online). The themes which emerge from the characters’ conversations throughout the novel provide a constant confrontation of arguments to support or refute the existence of God. This paper aims to analyse the novel from a philosophical perspective, in order to clarify and emphasise the connection between the ideas and words employed by the characters, and the theories of Western philosophers such as St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas and Leibnitz. The focus on these particular philosophical aspects contributes to a deeper understanding of the novel as a whole.

Shaaban Robert wrote three autobiographical texts at different times in his life. The first, which is lost, covered his childhood and had been written when he was 27; the second, which corresponds to the first part of this work, was written at the age of 37, covering the period 1936-1946. The last was completed in 1960, but covers the period 1946-1959. It must be emphasised that the poet’s life cannot be compartmentalised into separate, successive stages. Over and above a chronological division of events, the two sections of the book can be differentiated by the different periods when they were written and thus the different viewpoints on what happened throughout his life. Philippe Lejeune´s definition of an autobiography as ´a retrospective prose narrative made by a real person about their own existence, emphasising their indi¬vidual life and in particular the development of their personality´ (Lejeune 1996: 14), is a familiar one. This definition fits Shaaban Robert´s text perfectly and yet, in the Swahili context, such an endeavour could have encountered many obstacles.

The Swahili novel, a literary genre lately appeared in Tanzania, has undoubtedly found a brilliant and mature expression in the works of the Zanzibarian writer Said Ahmed Mohamed. His novel Utengano, published in 1980, is a unique work in the Swahili literary production of the Seventies and Eighties, with regard to both the themes treated and the very elaborated style of the author, who has given a dense and homogeneous quality to this genre, which is by definition open and composite, totally different from the short story, the organisation of different elements representing a challenge to the capacities of a writer in terms of composition. In this paper I will focus on a feature of Utengano which, in my view, points out to the good achievement of a novel, namely the author`s utterance of a leitmotiv or general abstract idea creating cross-references and symbolic relations between the different levels of a literary text. The leitmotiv I found in Utengano is the idea of dynamism, in other words motion, energy that produces changes, which permeates the whole work unifying the different levels of expression. These latter will be analysed separately to allow a clear exposition, but the dialectical relationship between the `what` and the `how´ represents the key to the reading of this novel.

Instead of discussing an outstanding literary work by a well-known Swahili writer, this time I would like to present a second- or third-rate book by a renownless author (at least to my knowledge), Gilbert Gicaru Githere.2 Its title is Mwana Maji na Mrembo (The Marine and the beauty). It was published in 1990 by an otherwise unknown publishing house, Merengo Publishers, and printed in Hawaii. I have chosen this book because, in spite of its many flaws, it has some interesting features: The whole novel is written almost as a film script; descriptions of actions and landscapes are film-like, and the characters are seen as if they were on the screen. The problem is that this narrative technique does not work, so I want to analyse what is wrong with it.

\"Are there any national literatures in black Africa yet? The simple answer is no. [...] If one examines the development of the African language literature that do exists, one is struck by certain recurring tendencies. Many of the books produced, particularly the early works, are of a predominantly moralistic nature. Sometimes they are retelling of folk stories or Bible stories, sometimes imitations of European religious literature, sometimes both.\\\" (Lindfors 1997: 121; 123) Certain anomalies are obvious in the above extract. Swahili written literature with its long-standing tradition, dating far back to the 17th century, has relativly gathered its own aesthetic criteria, values and sensibility, hence \\\'own\\\' integrity and world view. I dare say that Lindfors will be suprised to learn today, how fast the Swahili novel has developed since when he had left it when he read Andrzejewski et al (1985) and Gérard (1981), who (by the way), themselves did not then see the their works as presenting a complete picture of African literatures in African languages. This essay aims at showing the predicament of the Swahili novelist at the crossroads and how, in a contemporary situation, s/he works out his or her strategies towards resolving the impasses.

This article presents an interpretation of Said Ahmed Mohamed`s forth novel Kiza katika Nuru (1988). My aim is to show that this novel is an engaging model of modern Swahili fiction, in which the author provides a very acute perception of the contemporary social and political realities in Tanzania. The article focuses on the plot and characters, and will wouch some aspects of language usage and problems of translation. The latter aspect is derived from my work experience in translation Kiza katika Nuru into Italian: Il buio nella luce (Nocera 2004).

The present alphabetical Bibliography ranging from `Abdalla` to `Zhukov` includes old and new titles on Swahili Literature, Linguistics, Culture and History. Swahili Studies or \'Swahilistics\' have grown strong since the mid-1980s when scholars started to increasingly engage in international networking, first by communicating through the newsletter Swahili Language and Society: Notes and News from Vienna (Nos. 1.1984-9.1992) and Antwerp (No. 10.1993) and then through the journal Swahili Forum published at the University of Cologne (Nos. I. 1994 - IX. 2002), not to mention the numerous conferences held in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, London, Bayreuth and other places, and not to forget the achievements of the journal Kiswahili from Dar es Salaam as another steady medium of Swahili scholarship. Of course, this Bibliography is not the only one: other useful and specialized bibliographical information appeared in articles, surveys, reference books and larger studies, which are indicated in the following. Part of the titles have been extracted from these sources and integrated into the present Bibliography after having had a physical look at them. As this was not always possible, it seems still to be advisable and necessary to consult the indicated sources themselves when it comes to selecting one\'s base of research literature.

This paper argues a case for the preparation of reading materials in Kiswahili and other African languages in order to enhance adult education in Kenya. Adult education clientele are defined as those aged over 15 who (a) were either never enrolled in primary schools or dropped out before completing and (b) `graduated` and currently participate in community extension services. Cognisance of mothertongues as the best languages to begin basic literacy is taken. However, since the literacy so acquired should be useful to the individual at both local and national levels, one needs Kiswahili for wider communication. Therefore, reading materials, especially for post literacy and adult literacy teacher training should be in Kiswahili. This will not only guard against relapsing to illiteracy and misinformation but will also alleviate the scarcity of reading materials in the face of hard economic times in Kenya.

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.