Living for the city

Urban displacement and incarceration in Wright'sNative Sonand Rajabu's 'Masudi

Bibliographic Data

ID2172953
AuthorsAaron Louis Rosenberg (0000-0001-7989-741X, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume24
Issue1
Pages35-53
Publication date2012-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-6815 • E-ISSN: 1469-9346
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13696815.2012.666867
OpenAlexW2005925572
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

One of the neglected areas of globalization studies is the movement of people within countries. In post-colonial African nations and the antebellum United States, migration patterns have often been to urban areas. Two creative works which bear witness to these relocations are Richard Wright's novel Native Son and Marijani Rajabu's popular song 'Masudi'. Both works confront the alienation and incarceration of young black men who find themselves unable to integrate into the urban geographies of Chicago and Dar es Salaam through different rhetorical strategies orchestrated in order to precipitate realizations in their respective audiences. Mojawapo ya malengo yasiosisitizwa katika masomo ya utandawazi ni yale yanayohusiana na uhamiaji wa watu ndani ya nchi zao. Kwenye nchi za Afrika baada ya uhuru na nchi ya Marekani baada ya tarikhi ya utumwa uhamiaji wingi ulikuwa ukielekea kwenye miji mikubwa. Kazi mbili za ubunifu ambazo hushuhudia uhamiaji huo ni riwaya ya Native Son ya Richard Wright na wimbo wa "Masudi" uliotungwa na Marijani Rajabu. Kazi hizo zote mbili zinakabiliana na kutengwa na kufungwa jela kwa vijana wawili weusi ambao wanajikuta hawawezi kujijumlisha na majiografia ya miji ya Chicago na Dar es Salaam. Wasanii hawa hutumia mbinu za balagha za tofauti ili kusababisha matekelezo akilini mwa hadhira zao binafsi. Maneno maalum: mahusiano kati ya nakala; uhamiaji; masomo ya Afrika; kufananisha mbinu za fasihi; masomo ya kustaarabika mjini Keywords: hypertextualitymigrationAfricana studiescross-genre studiesurbanization Notes See Arnesen (2002) Arnesen, Eric. 2002. Black protest and the great migration: A brief history with documents, Bedford: St. Martin's Press. [Google Scholar], Grossman (1991) Grossman, James R. 1991. Land of hope: Chicago, black southerners, and the great migration, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 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'Boys in the hood': Black male community in Richard Wright's Native Son. Callaloo. 29(1): 182–201. [Google Scholar] work compares Wright's male figures and their urban desperado lifestyle to those presented in rap songs, hence providing a link to my own scholarly endeavour here and the expression of similar problematics of youth integration in urban settings and their expression through song. See Bonnie Barthold (1981) Barthold, Bonnie. 1981. Black time: Fiction of Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [Google Scholar] and Toru Kiuchi (1982) Kiuchi, Toru. 1982. Richard Wright's Native Son and Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country. Waseda Daigaku Eibungaku, 56(25): 71–9. [Google Scholar]. See Kelly Askew (2002) Askew, Kelly. 2002. Performing the nation: Swahili music and cultural politics in Tanzania, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar] and Aaron Rosenberg (2011) Rosenberg, Aaron. 2011. 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