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Abstract
Religion and literature have a powerful symbiotic relationship. Just as the former renders truth of a kind, so is literature an expression of truth about society. In both one encounters shared concerns for and responses to life.
It is within this context that this article explores links between politics and religion as articulated in Kiswahili poetry. In particular, the paper offers a synthesis between political poetry and intellectual history of Africa. By examining the character and function of this type of Swahili poetry, the paper strives to understand the ideological and political undercurrents among religions that have sought to shape the continent and its identity.
This article is not simply an exercise in practical criticism, rather it has an underlying polemical purpose: to show that Swahili poetry has always been engaged with African history. With the burden of humanizing society, Swahili poetry has the proper and essential role of giving its audience a sense of community.
Introduction
The dynamics of change and continuity in Africa is an activity that has been captured by Swah i I i poetry. As a resu It, Swah i I i poetry has emerged as a historically related text with themes gyrating on a great convulsion. Whereas Swahili poetry covers a corpus of issues, it is remarkable for its consistent attention to political themes.
In this paper, political poetry is the subject of inquiry, while religion is the object of study. It is argued that religion plays an important role in the development of politics of society, and thus should be treated seriously as part of the Swahili scene.
Kiswahili Language, Religion and Politics in East Africa
Kiswahili is a Bantu language that originated at the Coast of East Africa many centuries before the coming of Arabs. Proto-Swahili, known as Kingozi, hardly intelligible now but traceable in the pretwentieth century poetry of northern Swahi I i dialects, was an elegant language that was used for social discourses. The present form of Kiswahili is very largely a twentieth century construct. The language extends northward into southern Somalia, southward to northern Mozambique, eastward to major Indian Ocean Islands of Pemba, Zanzibar, the Comoros, and the northern tip of Madagascar, and westward into Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic...