The dynamic element of Xhosa oral poetry has clearly changed and is continuing to change with changes in the Nguni society. The aim of this paper is to investigate the changes that have intruded into Xhosa praise poetry during 1990s.

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Iba Ndiaye Diadji, a Senegalese professor of aesthetics, sees water as intrinsic to African ontology. He also argues that water is the most important substance to inspire African artists. (Diadji 2003: 273–275.) Water certainly has a significant role in Swahili poetry, written traditionally by people living on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Swahili poems have used aquatic imagery in expressing different ideas and sensations, in different contexts and times. Water imagery can be found in hundreds of years old Islamic hymns as well as in political poetry written during the colonial German East Africa. This article discusses water imagery in traditional Islamic Swahili poetry.

The thesis is dedicated to the question of relation of Schlegel's conception of the "progressive universal poetry" to the principle of the aesthetic autonomy as the central feature of the modern notion of art. Against the opinion of J. M. Bernstein the point of view is defended, according to which Schlegel's theory doesn't undermine but advances the aesthetic autonomy. The interpretation of romantic philosophy in work of Manfred Frank serves as a base for the argument. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first two of them offer the basic outline of the problem of the aesthetic autonomy as the context in which Schlegel's romantic aesthetic is to be examined. The third and the forth chapters introduce the main elements of this theory. The fifth chapter summarizes Frank's interpretation of the philosophy of Friedrich Schlegel. The sixth chapter contains the resume and subsequent challenging of the argument of J. M. Bernstein, who argues that the conception of the "progressive universal poetry" leads to the "philosophical disenfranchisement of art". On the background of its criticism the alternative position is offered, which holds, that Schlegel advances the doctrine of the aesthetic autonomy by replacing the view of an artwork as an actual binding of nature and freedom with the notion of the...

[pt] Esta dissertação aborda a experiência poética de Gherasim Luca (Bucareste 1913 - Paris, 1994) a partir das leituras do seu espólio, dos livros publicados em francês e dos registros sonoros e audiovisuais de seus recitais. A dissertação interroga o horizonte em que se move a sua linguagem, enfocando o modo singular como o autor promove um uso poético do idioma francês que recusa a idéia de língua como pátria linguística. Humor, erotismo e crueldade se cruzam nessa poesia, abalando o lugar do leitor e os modos de percepção sensível do poema. A análise tem como fio condutor o movimento de fuga que mobiliza sua escrita, desde os primeiros textos escritos em Bucareste até os recitais performáticos da última fase. A leitura revela as implicações da adoção do francês como língua literária e a importância do trabalho sobre a camada sonora do poema na busca de uma força plástica da linguagem, plasticidade que culmina na prática da performance vocal do texto escrito. Ao longo da análise, são convocados outros autores, cujas práticas de linguagem apresentam afinidades significativas com a poesia de Luca, tais como Jean-Pierre Brisset, Michel Leiris e Henri Michaux. / [fr] Ce mémoire aborde l expérience poétique de Ghérasim Luca (Bucarest,1913 - Paris,1994) à partir des lectures des œuvres de son héritage, des livres publiés en français et des enregistrements sonores et audiovisuels de ses récitals. Le mémoire scrute l horizon dans lequel se meut son langage et la manière singulière dont l’auteur soutenait un usage poétique du français refusant l idée de langue comme patrie linguistique. Dans cette poésie, l humour, l’érotisme et la cruauté s y croisent, ébranlant la place du lecteur et les modes de perception sensible du poème. L analyse a pour fil conducteur le mouvement de fuite et de dépossession qui mobilise son écriture, depuis les premiers textes écrits à Bucarest jusqu aux récitals poétiques de la dernière phase. La lecture révèle les implications de l adoption du français comme langue littéraire et l importance qu assume la couche sonore du poème en quête d une force plastique du langage, culminant par la performance vocale du poème. Au long du mémoire, sont convoqués d autres auteurs, dont la pratique de langage présente des affinités significatives avec la poésie de Luca, tels que Jean-Pierre Brisset, Michel Leiris et Henri Michaux.

The Burda (or `mantle´), an Arabic poem in praise of the prophet Muhammad (s. a.u.), was composed in Egypt by the 7th /13th century poet al-Busiri. Over the centuries the Burda of al-Busiri has become familiar in many parts of the Islamic world, including Swahili-land -where it is known as Burdai. Although it has already been translated into Swahili verse, this seems to be the first occasion that the Burdai has been translated into Swahili prose (into kiMvita, the speech of Swahili Mambasa). The translation which follows employs a new system of orthography which now appears in print for the very first time.

Haji Gora Haji (1933) is a Swahili poet from Tumbatu. Some people in Zanzibar call him `The Old Hurricane´ after the title and the first poem of his anthology Kimbunga (1994 Dar es Salaam: Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili) that made him well-known all over Taniania. While making a living from the sea, as a fisherman, porter in the harbour, sailor and transporter of cloves, he has been composing, since 1955, a large amount of ngoma and taarab songs, riddles, tenzi and mashairi, short stories and, recently, a short novel. This paper discusses metaphors and images that are characteristic of Haji Gora`s work, the way in which they reveal his identity and how they have been put in terms of contradictions and oppositions.

Different labels have been used for marking the reciprocity in Swahili dialogue poetry, varying between the more neutral `malumbano´ or `kujibizana´ and the more marked `ukinzani´ or `mashindano´. By showing a sample from the Zanzibari newspaper Mwongozi (1956) of a poetic dialogue on wife-husband relationships, the paper argues that the poetical form and the strong language used are not a mere expression of what has been called `rivalry´, but instruments in expressing views and opinions that have been observed in other literary devices (mithali, misemo, vijembe) and their usage. At the same time it is demonstrated that different types of poems (tenzi, mashairi, nyimbo) and different styles (plain, metaphoric, riddle) are used side by side. The ambiguity, incompleteness and strength of the language that is used in this poetry, make it all possible to express views on sensitive issues in the society.

Kasida ya Hamziyyah, yumkini, ndiyo tafsiri ya Kiswahili ya zamani zaidi. Kiswahili kilichotumiwa katika ukawafi huu kimechakaa sana hata maneno mengine hayatumiki tena. Hii ni kasida ambayo ni maarufu sana katika ulimwengu wa fasihi na dini ya Kiislamu na Waswahili huikariri wakati wa sherehe za Maulidi ya Nabii Muhammadi au wanapocheza Twari la Ndiya. Kasida hii ya Hamziyah pia hujulikana kama Chuo cha Hamziyah au Utenzi wa Hamziyah. Kasida ya Hamziyyah ilitafsiriwa kutoka kwa Kiarabu na Sayyid Aidarus bin Athumani bin Sheikh Abubakar bin Salim hapo mwaka wa 1652b. Pamoja na kuinukuu kwa hati za Kirumi nimebawibu Hamziyah katika sehemu mbalimbali, kulingana na maudhui yake, ili iweze kusomeka kwa urahisi na iweze kuwavutia wasomaji. Katika miswada ya Kiswahili niliyoipata, mswada mmoja una ubeti mmoja zaidi.

This article is based upon the following concept: Poetry is a chain of representation of the sub-conscience that is the creative source. We can read the poetic text in many ways, but if we imagine the text as the stage of images, we can understand the fundamental abstraction of the conscience. In this sense, oneiric images in some of Euphrase Kezilahabi’s poems will be analysed by using insights from psychoanalytic theory.