Theatre for Development (TfD) is a process whereby the community uses theatre, especially African traditional theatre forms, to address their development issues. In Tanzania, TfD came as a result of many factors; poor communication approaches used by the state in addressing development in the late 1970s, the economic crisis of the 1970s, the implementation of IMF and World Bank pressure to adopt Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) among others. Liberal policies imposed mostly from Euro-America proposed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to replace the state in addressing development, as they were perceived to be more democratic and less authoritative. Most of the supported activities of NGOs became those linked to development or that are in the position to bring about development in the fields of health, sanitation, education, gender, and democracy. Therefore, even theatre that was supported by donors was linked to or addressed ‘development’. In most cases, funding institutions have their own objectives, missions, and goals to fulfil. This paper tries to question the role of TfD in present Tanzania. It argues that, since most of the TfD projects have been funded by foreign donors and communities have no economic control of their own development concerns, it is clear that TfD is playing a double deal, community empowerment on the one hand and disempowerment on the other.

Fasihi ya watoto hujipambanua kwa kupitia sifa mintarafu dhidi ya fasihi ya watu wazima. Miongoni mwa sifa hizi, ni zile zilizobainishwa na wataalamu kama Mulokozi (2017), Schneider (2016), Bakize (2014, 2015), Lynch-Brown na wenzake (2014), Stakic (2014), Matundura na wenzake (2013), na Wamitila (2010); tukiwataja kwa uchache tu. Kwa jumla, wataalamu hawa wanabainisha sifa mahsusi zinazofungamana na kazi za fasihi zinazoingia katika kumbo la fasihi ya Watoto. Kitabu cha Mgomba Changaraweni (2005) kilichoandikwa na Ken Walibora kinatambulika kuwa ni miongoni mwa vitabu vya fasihi ya watoto nchini Kenya. Licha ya kitabu hicho kutambuliwa kama fasihi ya watoto, tunaporejelea sifa za fasihi ya watoto kulingana na wataalamu mbalimbali tuliyowataja hapo awali, tunaona kuwa kitabu hiki kina sifa nyingi za fasihi ya watu wazima kuliko fasihi ya watoto. Kwa hivyo basi, tunaonelea kuwa, kitabu hiki kinafaa zaidi kuingia katika kumbo la fasihi ya watu wazima kuliko kuingizwa katika kumbo la fasihi ya watoto. Katika makala haya, tutahakiki kitabu hiki ili kuangalia ni kwa vipi kinaibua utata katika kukubaliana kuwa kinastahili kuwekwa katika kumbo la fasihi ya watoto.

This paper examines the discourse function of locative inversion (LI) in Swahili in a sample of twelve literary texts of various kinds and genres, written by different writers from Zanzibar as well as the mainland (Tanzania as well as Kenya) and published between 1960 and 2007. In the sample, I was able to identify only 21 examples of LI altogether, which suggests that the frequency of LI in general may be quite low. My analysis shows that these examples of LI are mainly used in background descriptions, that is, in longer or shorter sections where mostly places and objects are described in some detail. Furthermore, most of the identified locative inverted constructions are agentless passives; however, my sample also contains LI with process verbs. As I shall argue, locative inverted constructions are primarily discourse-pragmatically motivated and context-dependent, and their information structure can generelly be captured by assigning topic and focus features. Most specifically, my analysis shows that in most cases the preverbal locative is topical in the sense that its referent is available from the preceding context by bridging inferences. However, a few of the examples also show that locative inverted constructions sometimes also have even more subtle pragmatic effects.

Cognitive linguistics studies have been developing since 1980s and represent one of the major frameworks of linguistic research. This article provides an overview of the limited number of studies on Kiswahili which have been conducted using this theoretical model, while outlining the advantages of this approach in various areas of research and multiple topics. It is also demonstrated that cognitive Linguistics approach has benefits for teaching Kiswahili as a foreign language.

The 19th-century Swahili poet Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy composed several poems in opposition to the Omani Empire’s invasion of his native Mombasa. In this paper, I focus on one such poem, “Ngoma ya Kizungup’ia”, which has not been studied as comprehensively as many others. I unpack the cultural, choreographic, and poetic significance of the kiumbizi dance form, which serves as one of its central tropes. In light of Muyaka’s poetic invocation of this dance and the historical, political and performative context of 19th-century Swahili war poetry, I apply the rhetorical and literary framework of Signifyin(g) to gain a deeper understanding of the political intentions and poetic execution of Muyaka’s resistance poetry, as distinguished contextually and ideologically from his earlier war dialogue poems. Finally, I reflect on my own experience translating the poem into English using methods of creative transposition, and conclude that the inextricability of the poem's hermeneutic and poetic values renders it especially difficult to translate.

Since around 2011, Bongo Flava musicians use significantly more English in their lyrics than in the previous years, particularly in love songs. This article documents and describes this new trend and discusses the reasons for the change in language use. It reveals that the new development is indicative of a transformation of Bongo Flava towards pop, caused by changes in the domestic market on the one hand and by a growing outward-looking market orientation on the other. These changes are demanding new ways of constructing identities through the use of language. / Tangu mnamo mwaka 2011, wasanii wa Bongo Flava walio wengi hutumia kiasi kikubwa cha Kiinge¬reza katika nyimbo zao ukilinganisha na miaka ya nyuma. Hali hiyo inajionyesha zaidi katika nyimbo za mapenzi. Makala hii inaeleza mwelekeo huo mpya na kujadili sababu zake. Inatoa hoja ya kwamba mwelekeo huo umesababishwa hasa na mabadiliko katika soko la muziki ndani na nje ya Tanzania, hasa katika bara la Afrika. Mabadiliko hayo ndiyo yanayosababisha kutumia zaidi lugha ya Kiingereza.

Enzi baada ya uhuru baadhi ya tafsiri mpya kwa Kiswahili zilianza kutokea nchini Kenya, zikiwemo tafsiri za riwaya na tawasifu za waandishi Wakenya. Makala haya yanazingatia tawasifu ya Josiah Mwangi Kariuki iitwayo Mau Mau Detainee (1963) inayosimulia kumbukumbu za mateso aliyoya-pata mwandishi mwenyewe wakati wa miaka ya hali ya hatari, na tafsiri yake kwa Kiswahili yaani Mau Mau Kizuizini (1965) iliyofasiriwa na Joel Maina. Kwanza, tawasifu ya Mau Mau Detainee itachambuliwa kwa kujikita hasa katika jinsi mwandishi mwenyewe alivyobuni lugha changamano takitumia Kiingereza kinachochanganywa na Kigĩkũyũ pamoja na Kiswahili. Halafu, tafsiri yake ii-wayo Mau Mau Kizuizini itachambuliwa kwa kina kwa ajili ya kuanza kufafanua jinsi na kwa mbinu gani mfasiri alivyokabiliana na vipengele vya pekee vya matini hiyo wakati alipokuwa anatafsiri kumbukumbu hizo za ukoloni akiwa anawalenga wasomaji wa lugha pokezi.

Review

This paper is a contribution to the 26th Swahili Colloquium in Bayreuth 2013. As the main theme of the conference was Tafsiri ‘Translations’, an analysis of Euphrase Kezilahabi’s poetry will be present-ed, with particular focus on the limits of both language and translation. Looking at the linguistic prop-erties of Kezilahabi’s poetry these linguistic limits seem to represent the various stages of his philoso-phy; in this journey language is the means and the goal itself as it is an important unit of existence. Kezilahabi transfers many ´African´and Swahili elements from past to present and he transfers for-eign elements, from outside to inside, written anew and revived through the poet’s words. This analysis will consider the poetic word as a result of this comparison. The poetic of Euphrase Kezilahabi is also an original result of a comparison between his culture and literature and foreign literature.

Tangu kuzuka kwa umiliki wa vyombo vya moto vya usafiri (mabasi, malori, pikipiki) kwa watu binafsi katika miaka ya 1990 nchini Tanzania, misemo kwa kiasi kikubwa imechupa kutoka katika majukwaa yake ya asili ya kanga, vihangaisho, vipepeo na makawa majumbani na kuhamia katika vyombo vya usafiri. Si tu misemo mipya imezuka bali hata ile misemo ya asili imepindwa na kutumiwa katika miktadha mipya. Waandishi wa semi za magari ni madereva, utingo au wamiliki wa vyombo hivyo. Tumebaini makundi matatu ya misemo katika data yetu, yaani misemo kongwe, misemo pindwa na misemo ibuka, kwa kuakisi nadharia za methali na misemo za Mieder & Litovkina (1999), Mieder (2007) na Litovkina (2011). Je, misemo hiyo ni mkondo wa fikra mpya za watu kama alivyotabiri Kezilahabi (1988, 1995)? / Since the introduction of the private commercial motor transport services in Tanzania in the 1990s, the inscription of sayings has shifted from their mainly traditional platforms of female cotton wrap (Kanga), palm leaf food cover (kawa) or hand fan (kipepeo) onto the tailgate, sideboards or mudguards of commercial automobiles. The vehicle owners and/or their operators are inscribers of these automobile slogans. I analyse them in three forms: standard, parodied and innovated sayings adopting the paremiological approaches by Mieder & Litovkina (1999), Mieder (2007), Litovkina (2011). Do these forms of car inscriptions fulfill the prediction by Kezilahabi (1988, 1995) on the imminent transformation of the Swahili sayings to become a platform for negotiation of people`s tumultuous life challenges and desires?