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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Shakespeare in Africa: between English and Swahili literature |
Author: | Mazrui, Alamin M. |
Year: | 1996 |
Periodical: | Research in African Literatures |
Volume: | 27 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 64-79 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Kenya |
Subjects: | Swahili language literature English language translation |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/3820004 |
Abstract: | After independence the English-language literature syllabus in Kenya was gradually transformed and became more African in focus. This led to the exclusion of all non-African authors, including Shakespeare, who finally lost his place in Kenyan schools by 1985. Ironically, the elimination of Shakespeare from the study of literature in English stands in marked contrast to his seemingly more secure place in Swahili-language literature. As Shakespeare in English was being purged from the English-language literature syllabus, Shakespeare in Swahili was being embraced as part of Kenya's Swahili-language literature syllabus for upper secondary schools. This article highlights the main issues that have been raised in the East African discussion on translated works. It starts with Ali Mazrui, who has argued that Swahili translations of Shakespeare should not be accommodated in a Swahili literature syllabus. Then it deals, more in general, with translation as a way of exposing Swahiliphone Africa to experiences from other parts of the world; as a way of contributing to the transformation of 'national literatures'; and as a way of promoting the 'target' language itself. Bibliogr., notes, ref. |