Reading Mohamed´s novels Kiu (`Thirst´; 1972) and Nyota ya Rehema (`The Star ofRehema´or `The Destiny of Rehema´; 1976), one is struck by abundant use of `implication´ technique. Implication is regarded as a feature that is statistically more frequent in poetry than in prose, hence the presence of this technique in abundance in Mohamed´s idiom, renders it a quality of poetic prose. The purpose of this paper is therefore to show how various linguistic features are used as vehicle for the realisation of the implication technique used to create exponents for the semantic structure in his novels. Exponents as literary devices need not be implicit as in Mohamed`s idiom, however if used implicitly, they form an artistically engineered correlation with literary substance of the novel and gives it a certain quality that affects our `attitude´ and `judgement` towards it. Hence in this paper we hold it that the reader`s involvement in the interpretation of the novel eventually entails the decoding of the corpus for the externalisation of the literary substance. A reader who is fully involved in the interpretation and processing of implied meaning(s) in the novel, digs into its semantic structure by condation and deduction and comes out with more lasting impressions than he would if he were to deal with a less subtle or totally explicit idiom that may be regarded as plain and spoon-feeding.

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Sci. polit.--Paris 2, 1995. / En appendice, choix de documents. Bibliogr. p. 367-373.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Histoire, sociétés et cultures : Lille 3 : 2003. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. Index.

This thesis analyses UMNO factionalism from the perspective of the elite’s manipulation of the various modes of nationalisms. This thesis argues that UMNO factionalism, which is seemingly a power struggle between competing UMNO elites, has been significantly shaped by contesting nationalist ideologies that reflect the unresolved questions of national identity in Malaysia. These two issues, that is, nationalism and UMNO factionalism, have shaped Malaysian politics in significant ways. UMNO factionalism has been related to such major political events as the 1969 ethnic riots, the introduction of the New Economic Policy, the UMNO split in 1987 and the Reformasi (Reform) movement in 1998. Frequently, the impact of these disputes extended beyond UMNO politics and affected wider Malaysian politics. At the same time, due to unresolved questions of national identity, nationalism has occupied a central position in Malaysian political discourse. There are ambiguities regarding the relationships among the various ethnic identities and national identity and between the individual and the larger Malaysian community that enable elites to construct and manipulate nationalist ideologies. In this thesis, the conflicting nationalisms are captured by five different concepts of nationalism – ethnocultural, civic and multicultural nationalisms in one group and collectivist-authoritarian and individualistic-libertarian nationalisms in another. The Malaysian Prime Ministers have constructed nationalist ideology to define the Malaysian nation in their attempts to resolve the unresolved problems of national identity. The challengers’ arguments, to mobilise the community, mirror the community’s (negative) responses to the Malaysian Prime Ministers’ nationalist visions. In addition, the ideological arguments in the disputes extend the dispute beyond the elites, involving the community as well. Furthermore, because of the ideological conflicts, these factional disputes affect the direction of government policies in significant ways. This study shows that UMNO factional disputes have followed this pattern of ideological conflicts, although the exact contents may vary. The 1969 factional dispute was a clash between Tunku Abdul Rahman’s shift towards multicultural nationalism and its challengers’ ethnocultural nationalism. Tunku Abdul Rahman’s nationalist vision moved away from ethnocultural nationalism in pursuit of national integration. The challengers, reflecting the Malay community’s response to the Prime Minister’s vision, took a strong ethnocultural Malay nationalist stance. The successful mobilisation of the Malay community by ethnocultural Malay nationalists contributed to the policy shift towards ethnocultural nationalism in the 1970s. In the 1987 dispute, Mahathir’s economic policy, which moved away from ethnocultural nationalism, was challenged by Razaleigh’s ethnocultural nationalist argument. After the dispute, Mahathir could only mobilise the community by tactically employing the rhetoric of ethnocultural Malay nationalism. In the 1990s, Mahathir’s attempt to define the national identity of Malaysia by constructing a civic Malaysian nation, Bangsa Malaysia, relieved the tension surrounding the ambiguous national identity of Malaysia. It was facilitated by rapid economic growth that ameliorated ethnic contests over limited economic resources. However, the collectivist-authoritarian aspect of Mahathir’s nationalism raised another nationalist question concerning the subordination of individual liberty and rights to the collective community’s will and interests – a nationalism that justified his authoritarian rule. There was tension between an increasingly confident civic Malaysian society and Mahathir’s collectivist-authoritarian control of the society. The 1998 UMNO dispute was a clash between Mahathir’s collectivist-authoritarian nationalism and Anwar Ibrahim’s individualistic-libertarian nationalism. The latter attempted to mobilise Malaysian society with his nationalist position (the Reformasi movement) which was expressed in the demand for liberal political reform. After the dispute, Mahathir was able to regain lost political ground through the politics of fear. It seems, however, that the fundamental question remains unresolved. This unresolved tension between the demand for individual liberty and rights and authoritarian control by state elites is likely to shape the ideological arguments in future UMNO factional disputes.

Reading Mohamed´s novels Kiu (`Thirst´; 1972) and Nyota ya Rehema (`The Star ofRehema´or `The Destiny of Rehema´; 1976), one is struck by abundant use of `implication´ technique. Implication is regarded as a feature that is statistically more frequent in poetry than in prose, hence the presence of this technique in abundance in Mohamed´s idiom, renders it a quality of poetic prose. The purpose of this paper is therefore to show how various linguistic features are used as vehicle for the realisation of the implication technique used to create exponents for the semantic structure in his novels. Exponents as literary devices need not be implicit as in Mohamed`s idiom, however if used implicitly, they form an artistically engineered correlation with literary substance of the novel and gives it a certain quality that affects our `attitude´ and `judgement` towards it. Hence in this paper we hold it that the reader`s involvement in the interpretation of the novel eventually entails the decoding of the corpus for the externalisation of the literary substance. A reader who is fully involved in the interpretation and processing of implied meaning(s) in the novel, digs into its semantic structure by condation and deduction and comes out with more lasting impressions than he would if he were to deal with a less subtle or totally explicit idiom that may be regarded as plain and spoon-feeding.

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.

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Sociol.--Paris--École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 2000. / La p. de titre porte en plus : "autour de la rissala (épître), "Les plus clairs arguments qui nécessitent la réforme des zawaya kabyles" d'Ibnou Zakri (1853-1914), clerc officiel dans l'Algérie coloniale, publiée à Alger, aux Éditions Fontana en 1903" Contient la trad. française par Kamel Chachoua suivie du texte arabe de la rissala d'Ibnou Zakri. Glossaire.

Makala haya yanachanganua ishara na uashiriaji kama mbinu ya kimtindo ya kuwasilisha maana na kukuza uhusika na maudhui katika riwaya ya Nyuso za Mwanamke (2010) ya Said Ahmed Mohamed. Nimechanganua aina tatu za ishara ambazo ni ishara bia, ishara za kaida na ishara za kifasihi kama zinavyoainishwa na Frye na wenzake (1985). Lengo kuu ni kuchanganua na kubainisha jinsi ishara zinavyowasilisha maana na itikadi za jamii katika matini husika. Ishara hizi pia husaidia kukuza maudhui, ploti na kuongeza ujumi katika matini za kifasihi. / This article analyses symbols and symbolism as stylistic devices of communicating meaning and as a technique of characterisation and theme development in Nyuso za Mwanamke (The Faces of a Woman, 2010) written by Said Ahmed Mohamed. I analysed three types of symbols which are natural symbols, conventional symbols and literary symbols following Frye et al. (1985). This study aims at showing how symbols are used in literary works to communicate meaning and the ideology of the society depicted in the text. Symbols also help to build the theme, the plot and adding aesthetic value in literary texts.

This article deals with the translation into Italian of the Swahili novel Utengano by Said Ahmad Mohamed, which was published in March 2005 under the title `Seperazione`by an Italian Publishing House, Rubbettino Editiore. Translation is a very important form of intercultural communication, which can provide contact with new readers, expected and unexpected ones. In the following pages I will decribe the main features of my translation of the novel Utengano, highlighting the main differences between the first version, that I produced as an appendix to the M.A. thesis, and the manuscript that I submitted to the publishing house.

I would like to present the latest novel by Said Ahmed Mohamed, Babu alipofofuka (\'When Grandfather came to life again\'), published at the end of the last year. The mine will be only a first, preliminary and very inadequate attempt as, I am sure, this work will challenge us for quite a few years. In fact, after five realistic novels the author has adopted a new technique, turning to magic realism as he himself defines his work, but perhaps it is a too limitative definition. He depicts our world in a near future, when Tanzania and other African countries will have already undergone the process of globalization. The results are disastrous: impoverished and dulled masses are governed by a handful of immensely rich, powerful and arrogant persons mostly of foreign origin, deprived of all human qualities, who have thrown away any inhibition and deliberately sunk in all sorts of physical and moral debasement; nothing embarrasses nor frightens them anymore as they feel unpunishable.