Metatextualities in the Kenyan Swahili novel
A case study reading of Kyallo Wamitila’s Dharau ya Ini
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10837005 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lutz Diegner (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 127-138 |
| Publication date | 2021-05-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Tydskrif vir letterkunde (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0041-476X • E-ISSN: 2309-9070 |
| Publisher | Academy of Science of South Africa (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.17159/tl.v58i1.9151 |
| OpenAlex | W3164620535 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 11 |
Contemporary Swahili novels transgress the boundaries of the novel text itself. They employ metatextualities of different categories in order to fulfil a variety of functions. In this essay, I explore metatextualities in the Kenyan Swahili novel, and provide a case study reading of one of the novels by the prolific and award-winning writer Kyallo Wadi Wamitila. My reading of Wamitila’s novel Dharau ya Ini (Contempt of the Liver, 2007) concentrates on metanarration and metareference. I analyse how narration, especially point of view, is used and how it is discussed and reflected upon by the text and in the text itself (metanarration). Another focus will be put on instances of metareference, especially on references to oral literature and to the literary genres of drama and poetry, as part of a work of prose. These analyses are done by a close reading informed by current research on metatextualities, and, in one of the examples, by phonostylistics. A general purpose of this study is to show how Swahili novel writing as African language writing participates in global discourses on, and practices in, literature and the arts. In a perspective of East(ern) African literature, it argues that Swahili literature and literary studies provide stimuli to literary theory and practice otherwise still dominated by its Anglophone counterpart in the region, and beyond. As regards Swahili literature, it reflects the crucial impact of Kenyan writing since about the turn of the millennium, in a sphere hitherto dominated by writers from Tanzania. The study is part of a research project I am undertaking in analysing metatextualities in contemporary Swahili novels by both Tanzanian and Kenyan writers
Art · Drama · Kenya · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Poetry · Political science · Reading (process · Sociology · Swahili · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · History · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies
The Dynamics of Narrative Form
On Metanarrative
‘New’ Novel, New Names, New Dimensions
Outline of Swahili Literature
Habari ya English? What about Kiswahili
Visions of the future in the ‘new’ Swahili novel
Utandawazi au utandawizi? Jinsi lugha ya riwaya mpya ya Kiswahili inavyodai
Introduction
Postrealist, Postmodernist, Postnation? The Swahili Novel 1987–2010
Leaving Parched Gardens and Discussing Narration with the Reader
Globalectical Swahili literature
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,07 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2012 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |