This paper looks at traditions and modernities in terms of a spectrum representation and thus challenges the previously accepted notion of tradition and modernity as an either/or matter where tradition is seen to hold obstacles assumed to block progression towards modernity. With this in mind, it considers Ebrahim Hussein´s title for his play Wakati Ukuta (Time is a Wall) and Euphrase Kezilahabi´s novel Gamba la Nyoka (The snake´s skin) to illustrate the idea of multiple modernities where the relationship between tradition and modernity is seen in terms of tension between cultural homogenisation and cultural heterogenisation where various ´scapes´ containing traditions are inflected by historical, linguistic and political situatedness of different actors. Key themes are discussed in this paper displaying the indigenised ethnoscape of East Africa with various modernities and the different tensions this can produce in view of long-standing traditions. Individualism is the prevailing theme in the emergence of modernity. With this in mind, extramarital relationships, foreign behaviours, education and age/generational differences are discussed with reference to the two literary texts. These themes exemplify the thematic trajectory of the spectrum representation of traditions and modernities in Swahili literature, showing belonging to the present but also awareness of the past. This paper concludes that modernities should no longer be seen as a foreign invasion aiming to eradicate tradition but as metropolises that can be indigenised and incorporated into existing traditions. The observations in this paper demonstrate that the link between traditions and modernities is not a direct transition from one to the other but one of more complex affiliation. This paper lays foundations for broader research into this relationship and gives new insight into the illustration and critique of various texts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:15-qucosa-107456 |
| Date | 06 March 2013 |
| Creators | Elvidge, Charlotte E. S. |
| Contributors | School of Oriental and African Studies ,, Universität Leipzig, Institut für Afrikanistik |
| Publisher | Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:article |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Swahili Forum 19 (2012), S. 96-105 |
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