Taking its depature point in a translation of a play by a Czech playwright and philosopher, Václav Havel, into Swahili, the article strives at a cross-cultural comparison of a pivotal concept of Havel`s thought, lidství (`humanity´), and an equally central concept of Swahili moral and philosophical thought, utu. The basis of this copmparison is, on the Czech side, an explanation of Havel`s concept and its grounding in existentialist philosophy. The Swahili side is presented in a two-step procedure. First, the semantic field of `humanity´in the Swahili language, comprising utu and several concepts related to it (especially ubinadamu), is analyzed. Second, the concepts belonging to the semantic field of utu are traced in the development of Swahili literature, as a prominent representative of intellecual discourses in the Swahili culture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:15-qucosa-97671 |
| Date | 30 November 2012 |
| Creators | Rettová, Alena |
| Contributors | SOAS, University of London, Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa, Universität Mainz, Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien |
| Publisher | Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | Swahili (individual language) |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:article |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Swahili Forum; 14(2007), S. 89-134 |
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