Doctoral thesis--Stockholm university, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 176-184.

This study falls within the area of the Bible in African Christianity, particularly ordinary readers' appropriation of and interpretation of the Bible. It seeks to explore, firstly, the processes of the encounter between the Bible and the indigenous people of Tanzania, specifically the Gogo in central region. Secondly, this thesis seeks to identify some interpretative resources and emerging interpretative practices that have continued into the present of ordinary readers of the Bible. This exploration is done by tracing the mission activities of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in Tanzania, which began in 1844. The work of the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) is also examined, particularly the role it has played in making the Book "open" to the indigenous, through translation. Although there is continuity between past and present readings, this thesis demonstrates that ordinary readings are not static, they are dynamic; and over the years neo-indigenous interpretative moves have emerged which are a combination of both missionary and indigenous interpretative resources and methods. This reality is evident in the contemporary phenomenon of women and youths' songs in central Tanzania. These songs are creative interpretations of the Bible from an ordinary readers' perspective. There is a challenge to trained readers of the Bible to realise that biblical interpretation is not the preserve of the "professionals"; ordinary readers in the parishes, in cities, towns and villages, do interpret the Bible as well. To be relevant to the Tanzanian context, academic interpreters have to consciously take into account the resources and strategies of ordinary readers, which are demonstrated in their vernacular languages, oral narratives, religious experience, songs, proverbs and wise sayings. This will mean deeply understanding the local languages, Cigogo and others, listening to ordinary interpretations of the Bible, listening to the music and tunes of ordinary readers, as well as reading the vernacular Bible. Lastly, this study offers some suggestions for further research which, I hope, will bring refr study falls within the area of the Bible in African Christianity, particularly ordinary readers' appropriation of and interpretation of the Bible. It seeks to explore, firstly, the processes of the encounter between the Bible and the indigenous people of Tanzania, specifically the Gogo in central region. Secondly, this thesis seeks to identify some interpretative resources and emerging interpretative practices that have continued into the present of ordinary readers of the Bible. This exploration is done by tracing the mission activities of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in Tanzania, which began in 1844. The work of the Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) is also examined, particularly the role it has played in making the Book "open" to the indigenous, through translation. Although there is continuity between past and present readings, this thesis demonstrates that ordinary readings are not static, they are dynamic; and over the years neo-indigenous interpretative moves have emerged which are a combination of both missionary and indigenous interpretative resources and methods. This reality is evident in the contemporary phenomenon of women and youths' songs in central Tanzania. These songs are creative interpretations of the Bible from an ordinary readers' perspective. There is a challenge to trained readers of the Bible to realise that biblical interpretation is not the preserve of the "professionals"; ordinary readers in the parishes, in cities, towns and villages, do interpret the Bible as well. To be relevant to the Tanzanian context, academic interpreters have to consciously take into account the resources and strategies of ordinary readers, which are demonstrated in their vernacular languages, oral narratives, religious experience, songs, proverbs and wise sayings. This will mean deeply understanding the local languages, Cigogo and others, listening to ordinary interpretations of the Bible, listening to the music and tunes of ordinary readers, as well as reading the vernacular Bible. Lastly, this study offers some suggestions for further research which, I hope, will bring refreshment and renewal to Tanzanian African biblical and theological scholarship. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Mathias Eugen Mnyampala (1917-1969) est un écrivain, juriste et poète d'expression swahilie tanzanien. De langue maternelle cigogo, il apprend le kiswahili et l'écriture par les textes de la Bible à l'âge de quinze ans. A partir de l'indépendance du Tanganyika en 1961, il engage son art poétique au service du développement du kiswahili, la langue de la nouvelle nation. Dans cette destinée particulière d'un jeune pasteur de l'Ugogo du centre de la Tanzanie, qui devient un maître reconnu par ses pairs de la poésie d'expression swahilie et un artiste national, se reflète la problématique de la construction d'une nation tanzanienne. Notre question centrale concerne la structure métrique formelle et la langue des poèmes de Mathias E. Mnyampala. Comment les définir ? Quels rapports entretiennent-ils avec le corpus classique des XVIIIème et XIXème siècles de la poésie d'expression swahilie ? Pourquoi est-ce ce type particulier de poésie - décrit formellement et linguistiquement - qui fait l'objet d'une promotion à l'échelon national et de reconnaissances officielles par des autorités politiques successives de Tanzanie ? Pour aboutir à l'interprétation politique de l'analyse formelle et linguistique des textes poétiques, il nous a fallu d'abord nous doter d'outils de description formelle qui étaient manquants. Nous parcourons pour ce faire l'ensemble des théories métriques existantes afin d'arriver à une synthèse formelle et réductionniste. Nous analysons ensuite le corpus poétique de Mathias E. Mnyampala sur cette base. Les formes métriques et la langue des poèmes témoignent de processus créatifs ex materia liés à la métrique classique qui nous apprennent quelque chose au sujet de la construction nationale au service de laquelle ils sont appelés. La création ex materia, ni classique ni moderne, est une troisième voie de la composition poétique que notre approche formelle permet de décrire. Nous verrons qu'en parallèle d'une nationalisation des mètres classiques de la poésie d'expression swahilie, il est question d'une africanisation de la culture nationale.