Т. 2. Азия и Африка: Наследие и современность

Секция XIX 244 Азия и Африка: наследие и современность. Т. 2 Kithaka Wa Mberia (University of Nairobi, Kenya) On the Evolution of Swahili Poetry In the 1970s there arose a debate on the question of form in Swahili poetry. The debate pitted two groups against each other. The two groups were the traditionalists and the modernists. In the traditionalists’ camp were, among others, K. A. Abedi, S. Chiraghdin, J. M. Mayoka, S. A. Kandoro, S. Robert, A. Abdalla, A. Nabhany, A. Barua, R. K. Ruo,A. Gibbe andD. Massamba. In themodernists groupwere F. Topan, E. Kezilahabi, K. K. Kahigi,M.M.Mulokozi andE. Hussein. In this presentation, I argue that the traditionalists’ stand was grossly misconceived and that their arguments in the defense of the rigid rhyme and metre in Swahili poetry were fallacious. I show why their position emerging victorious. I broaden the discussion by showing that what was happening and is still happening in Swahili poetry was is universal phenomenon: all arts in all places at different times involve in form, thematic concerns and sometimes, ideological preference. Having laid that conceptual background, I will discuss how and why Swahili poetry has evolved from its Pre-Islamic secular, “free verse” form to the Islamic thematic concerns that begin with the creation of Hamziya, through the partly secular poetry of poets such as Ali Koti and Muyaka bin Haji in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and poets such as Akilimali Snow-white, Mohamed Abedi, Mathias Mnyapala and Shaaban Robert in the century, and finally the secular poetry of poets such as E. Kezilahabi, M. M. Mulokozi, E. Hussein and D. masamba. Granted, in his seminal book titled Four Centuries of Swahili verse, Jan Knappert (1979) has documented the changes that Swahili poetry went through from the Pre-Islamic period to the modern poets that he discusses namely S. Robert, M. Mnyampala, A. Abedi and A. Nassir. One challenge with Jan Knappert’s book is that, sometimes, the author does not distinguish myth from fact. The fact that members of the Swahili community claim that Fumo Liyongo was a poet does not necessarily mean he was one. And yet in Knappert’s book Fumo Liyongo is discussed as a pot. At any rate, Swahili poetry has many more modern poets than those that appear in Knappert’s book. These modernist poets have brought some of the most profound changes in Swahili poetry by way of new poetic forms, thematic concerns and ideological shift. My presentationwill discuss the relevant changes and argue that changing times necessitate not only new themes but also new forms and at times new ideological leanings. Karina Simonson (Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Vilnius) German colonialism in Africa through a Jewish lens: László Moholy-Nagy and Leon Levson In the present paper I would like to present my multidisciplinary research on how German colonialism has been reflected in the works of two Jewish photographers—L szlóMoholy-Nagy (1895–1946) and Leon Levson (1883–1968).