Kala Shairi: German East Africa in Swahili Poems (review)

This bilingual anthology presents a treasure trove of Swahili historiographic poetry about the German colonial rule in East Africa between 1884 and World War I. The poems raise many questions: For what kind of audience were they written? How are we to understand poems in the collection that were commissioned by German linguists and anthropologists? Do we have to assume instances of self-censorship when we attempt to interpret the imagery used, for instance, in depictions of violent confrontations? In most cases we do not know much about the poems' composers, which adds another challenge to understanding the poems. Was the poets' view colored by a potential affiliation with the colonial power? Were the poems performed publicly? Were they part of East African cultural memory at any point?

The editors of the anthropology attempt to answer some of these questions in their 100-page introduction to the collection of poems that are rendered in the Swahili original and in English translation. The introduction provides background information relevant to understanding the historical context that informed individual poems, such as the Hehe Wars, the bombardment of Zanzibar, and the Maji Maji Uprising. A large section of the introduction discusses form and style of the poems, linguistic questions (including spelling, morphology, and syntax), the poets, and the poems' reception.

Most of the poems included are praise poems or narrative poems that were originally published in Swahili and in German translation and are presented here for the first time in English. The rich material gives access to African commentary on German colonial rule, but also offers insight into struggles between different East African peoples, regarding individual leaders, and competing spheres of influence along the East African littoral. Many questions regarding the specific reception and production of the poems are left unanswered. While conducting fieldwork in Tanzania, the editors of the anthology aspired to gather information about the poets but largely failed in this endeavor. Only two poets included in the collection are well known, namely, Hemed Abdallah bin Said bin Masud El-Buhriy and Abdel Karim bin Jamaliddini. In their interpretations of the poems, the editors are very careful not to jump to conclusions; in some instances, however, the irony and criticism contained in the poems are quite apparent.

Regardless of the open questions (which should inspire further research), the poems are poignant testimony to a cruel occupation, chronicling battles, death, and destruction, and articulating a deep sense of humiliation, anger at defeat, and helplessness in light of an overwhelming occupying power. One poet movingly expresses the consternation at the loss of power due to German colonial rule, particularly his frustration at being silenced. The anthology allows us to finally hear these East African voices in the English language.