Utenzi, War Poems, and the German Conquest of East Africa: Swahili poetry as historical source (review)

In this book Saavedra Casco examines the usefulness of indigenous Swahili poetry from the East African coast as historical source. While considerable bodies of scholarship exist both on the region's social and political history and, in turn, on the form and content of the poetical genres which have survived, it is the author's contention that scholars have failed to recognize or appreciate the art form's relevance and validity as culturally located historical document. The book analyses several of the most significant preserved works of Swahili poetry to demonstrate its development from oral indigenous art form, through the strong incoming influence of Muslim cosmogony and culture, to one with more balanced influences – indigenous, Islamic and European. In this way, the author is able to carry out historiographical analysis which highlights the contribution that such poetry – particularly of the utenzi (pl. tenzi) genre – can make to our understanding of nationally significant events in the life and times of the poets, concentrating on the prolific period at the turn of the twentieth century, which saw a large volume of poetry produced about the onset of German colonial rule.

The main body of the analysis comprises detailed examination of a small number of poems which not only demonstrate the significance of the differing social and historical contexts of their production, but also represent broader changes in the nature and purpose of tenzi. The book begins, though, by laying out a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the origin and development of Swahili poetry. Explanation of the differing natures and purposes of the utenzi, shairi and wimbo forms – including their metrical and prosodic rules – is followed by description of the genesis of poetry as an art form, its social and political significance, and how this relates to the social history of the East African coast. Next comes a narrative overview of the genre's development from its earliest traceable origins in the sixteenth century to the period under study. Unfortunately, the wealth of detail here may serve to overwhelm the non-specialist, with multiple, excessively long Muslim names adding (perhaps unavoidably) to the confusion.

The subsequent chapters examining specific poems are more easily digestible and it is through their insight that the earlier analyses can be better understood. Further explanation of the author's methodology at the end of the introductory chapter clarifies just how he intends to overcome the limitations of past studies. This includes taking into account as fully as possible the poets' society and circumstances, as a means to better understanding their motivations and intentions in practising their art; considering each poem as a whole, rather than focusing only on certain sections and thereby drawing misleading conclusions; and examining the processes whereby certain poems were commissioned, transcribed and published or, alternatively, lost – often under German patronage. Most significantly, though, he is determined to view the poems as historical documents which can help us gain new understanding of events which were contemporary to the poets' lives.

The trend which Saavedra Casco identifies in the changing role of tenzi is illuminating: while earlier poetry tended to be 'epic', initially depicting Islamic holy wars and stories from the life of the prophet Muhammad, it subsequently became more common to introduce moral and didactic subjects, as wider philosophical concerns became customary subject matter; it was only latterly that representation of events contemporaneous to the authors became commonplace. These changes were accompanied by a gradual secularization of the genre. Even between 1888 and 1910 there are differences between the manner and style of the tenzi and their historiographical significance. While the Utenzi wa Vita vya Wadachi Kutamalaki Mrima of 1891 relates the role of a mganga (traditional healer) in the coastal resistance to German invasion – including his use of divination and reading of omens – the Utenzi wa Vita vya Maji Maji, composed around 1908...