Lutz Marten
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199250639
- eISBN:
- 9780191719479
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199250639.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Syntax and Morphology
This book develops a new analysis of the interpretation of verb phrases and VP adjunction by arguing that the lexical subcategorization information of verbs is systematically underspecified and is ...
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This book develops a new analysis of the interpretation of verb phrases and VP adjunction by arguing that the lexical subcategorization information of verbs is systematically underspecified and is only resolved when verb phrases are built in context, with recourse to pragmatic knowledge. This idea is formally implemented in the framework Dynamic Syntax by introducing an underspecified semantic type into the logical system. This provides an account of how verb phrases are built on-line and how verbs can be used with a different array of complements on each occasion of use. Under this dynamic view, the interpretation of verbs is argued to be essentially pragmatic, making use of the notion of ad hoc concept formation developed in Relevance theory. The approach is illustrated in detail by a case study of Swahili applied verbs. The study brings together results from dynamic approaches to syntax and Relevance theoretic pragmatics, and charts the stretch of the syntax-pragmatic interface where lexical information from verbs and contextual concept formation meet.Less
This book develops a new analysis of the interpretation of verb phrases and VP adjunction by arguing that the lexical subcategorization information of verbs is systematically underspecified and is only resolved when verb phrases are built in context, with recourse to pragmatic knowledge. This idea is formally implemented in the framework Dynamic Syntax by introducing an underspecified semantic type into the logical system. This provides an account of how verb phrases are built on-line and how verbs can be used with a different array of complements on each occasion of use. Under this dynamic view, the interpretation of verbs is argued to be essentially pragmatic, making use of the notion of ad hoc concept formation developed in Relevance theory. The approach is illustrated in detail by a case study of Swahili applied verbs. The study brings together results from dynamic approaches to syntax and Relevance theoretic pragmatics, and charts the stretch of the syntax-pragmatic interface where lexical information from verbs and contextual concept formation meet.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This book provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of ...
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This book provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an ‘anthropology of philosophy’, a project that is spelt out in the opening chapter. Entry points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection. In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, and common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers.Less
This book provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an ‘anthropology of philosophy’, a project that is spelt out in the opening chapter. Entry points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection. In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, and common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers.
Carson T. Schütze
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199553266
- eISBN:
- 9780191720833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553266.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter explores how a language-acquiring child might ‘not know’ agreement. Ways in which such a child could be non-adultlike include inoperability of universal principles, incorrect parameter ...
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This chapter explores how a language-acquiring child might ‘not know’ agreement. Ways in which such a child could be non-adultlike include inoperability of universal principles, incorrect parameter settings, incomplete/incorrect knowledge of inflectional forms, imperfect execution of grammatical computations, and production difficulties. Distinguishing these is illustrated with English and Swahili transcripts.Less
This chapter explores how a language-acquiring child might ‘not know’ agreement. Ways in which such a child could be non-adultlike include inoperability of universal principles, incorrect parameter settings, incomplete/incorrect knowledge of inflectional forms, imperfect execution of grammatical computations, and production difficulties. Distinguishing these is illustrated with English and Swahili transcripts.
Felicitas Becker
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264270
- eISBN:
- 9780191734182
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264270.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
The future of relations between Tanzanian Muslims and the state is in the balance as recriminations between reformists and Bakwata continue, and the outline of potential compromises between Ansar and ...
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The future of relations between Tanzanian Muslims and the state is in the balance as recriminations between reformists and Bakwata continue, and the outline of potential compromises between Ansar and Lailah Muslims is as yet hard to see. Beyond the acceptance of basic religious practices, being Muslim meant very different things to different people at different times: a privileged connection to coastal sites of exchange for pre-colonial big men; social ascendancy for pre-colonial patricians, but social equality to inter-war immigrants; full participation in the social and ritual life of the village for rural converts in the mid-twentieth century; an increasingly problematic separate allegiance for post-colonial Tanzanians. The permutations of public ritual are covered. The concern about ignorance is not in itself a product of post-colonial political rhetoric. The chapter then discusses the political topography and the distribution of religious affiliations. The history of town and countryside helps in the understanding of the context that has shaped academic representations of Swahili culture as an urban culture. The Ansar and the debate on Islam and modernity are explained. The Islamist movements in the Southeast and East Africa at large draw on allegiances and grievances rooted in both recent and long-term history.Less
The future of relations between Tanzanian Muslims and the state is in the balance as recriminations between reformists and Bakwata continue, and the outline of potential compromises between Ansar and Lailah Muslims is as yet hard to see. Beyond the acceptance of basic religious practices, being Muslim meant very different things to different people at different times: a privileged connection to coastal sites of exchange for pre-colonial big men; social ascendancy for pre-colonial patricians, but social equality to inter-war immigrants; full participation in the social and ritual life of the village for rural converts in the mid-twentieth century; an increasingly problematic separate allegiance for post-colonial Tanzanians. The permutations of public ritual are covered. The concern about ignorance is not in itself a product of post-colonial political rhetoric. The chapter then discusses the political topography and the distribution of religious affiliations. The history of town and countryside helps in the understanding of the context that has shaped academic representations of Swahili culture as an urban culture. The Ansar and the debate on Islam and modernity are explained. The Islamist movements in the Southeast and East Africa at large draw on allegiances and grievances rooted in both recent and long-term history.
Justin Willis
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203209
- eISBN:
- 9780191675782
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203209.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter describes the partial transformation of the casual labour force of Mombasa involved in the development of new networks. Numbers of people from the hinterland lived and worked in Mombasa ...
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This chapter describes the partial transformation of the casual labour force of Mombasa involved in the development of new networks. Numbers of people from the hinterland lived and worked in Mombasa at this time, but they did so as Swahili, not as ‘Nyika’. In 1923, the District Commissioner for Kilifi noted that for the first time large numbers of Wanyika took part in casual work at the harbor and elsewhere in Mombasa. In 1925, the District Commissioner for Digo noted that Waduruma were working much more than previously and seemed to prefer to go to Mombasa to engage in daily work. For the first time, people from the hinterland were regularly finding casual work in Mombasa as Nyika and were taking their earnings back to the homestead with them.Less
This chapter describes the partial transformation of the casual labour force of Mombasa involved in the development of new networks. Numbers of people from the hinterland lived and worked in Mombasa at this time, but they did so as Swahili, not as ‘Nyika’. In 1923, the District Commissioner for Kilifi noted that for the first time large numbers of Wanyika took part in casual work at the harbor and elsewhere in Mombasa. In 1925, the District Commissioner for Digo noted that Waduruma were working much more than previously and seemed to prefer to go to Mombasa to engage in daily work. For the first time, people from the hinterland were regularly finding casual work in Mombasa as Nyika and were taking their earnings back to the homestead with them.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
Historically, poetry and its performance were applied to a wide range of incidents in Swahili social life. Swahili poetry has long been used for Islamic and social education, as well as for ...
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Historically, poetry and its performance were applied to a wide range of incidents in Swahili social life. Swahili poetry has long been used for Islamic and social education, as well as for ideological attacks between political or religious opponents. Reformist poets, for instance, railed against the supposed enemies of ‘pure’ Islam, such as the traditional healers practising divination or spirit-possession. This chapter presents an epigraph characterising Nabhany's literary and cultural project that can serve as a guideline through these passages which attempt to give a portrait of this important intellectual. Nabhany is a self-trained scholar who has assisted many academics in their research and, over decades, himself worked through various fields of Swahili cultural knowledge.Less
Historically, poetry and its performance were applied to a wide range of incidents in Swahili social life. Swahili poetry has long been used for Islamic and social education, as well as for ideological attacks between political or religious opponents. Reformist poets, for instance, railed against the supposed enemies of ‘pure’ Islam, such as the traditional healers practising divination or spirit-possession. This chapter presents an epigraph characterising Nabhany's literary and cultural project that can serve as a guideline through these passages which attempt to give a portrait of this important intellectual. Nabhany is a self-trained scholar who has assisted many academics in their research and, over decades, himself worked through various fields of Swahili cultural knowledge.
Justin Willis
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203209
- eISBN:
- 9780191675782
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203209.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter aims to gain an understanding of why movement to Mombasa was such an attractive option for some people in the early colonial period and demands an analysis of the Mombasa labour market ...
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This chapter aims to gain an understanding of why movement to Mombasa was such an attractive option for some people in the early colonial period and demands an analysis of the Mombasa labour market of the time as well as of the domestic economy of the hinterland homestead. The arrival of European planters, civil servants, the railway, and the Conservancy and Public Works Departments had created in Mombasa a demand for contracted labour: workers who had signed the legally binding contracts for the periods of three, six, or nine months. Unlike other Europeans employers, the shipping and shorehandling companies employed their labour on a casual basis, paying them at the end of each day. The demand for labour fluctuated from day to day, and the many small employers involved here were mostly Indians, Arabs, and Swahili.Less
This chapter aims to gain an understanding of why movement to Mombasa was such an attractive option for some people in the early colonial period and demands an analysis of the Mombasa labour market of the time as well as of the domestic economy of the hinterland homestead. The arrival of European planters, civil servants, the railway, and the Conservancy and Public Works Departments had created in Mombasa a demand for contracted labour: workers who had signed the legally binding contracts for the periods of three, six, or nine months. Unlike other Europeans employers, the shipping and shorehandling companies employed their labour on a casual basis, paying them at the end of each day. The demand for labour fluctuated from day to day, and the many small employers involved here were mostly Indians, Arabs, and Swahili.
Justin Willis
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203209
- eISBN:
- 9780191675782
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203209.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter describes what efforts were made to reshape the town of Mombasa through town planning by the administration. In Mombasa, the authorities sought to remake urban physical space in order to ...
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This chapter describes what efforts were made to reshape the town of Mombasa through town planning by the administration. In Mombasa, the authorities sought to remake urban physical space in order to change the social relationships. Official discourse around the planning of the town invoked an imagery of moral and physical contamination, which emphasized the importance of establishing proper boundaries and preventing the incorporation of even more migrants into the Swahili population. But the implementation of these plans in the town was considerably delayed. While serious planning had begun under Hobley in 1913, the remaking of the town began only in the later 1920s, and came some time after the peak of attempts to enforce the policies of separation in the hinterland.Less
This chapter describes what efforts were made to reshape the town of Mombasa through town planning by the administration. In Mombasa, the authorities sought to remake urban physical space in order to change the social relationships. Official discourse around the planning of the town invoked an imagery of moral and physical contamination, which emphasized the importance of establishing proper boundaries and preventing the incorporation of even more migrants into the Swahili population. But the implementation of these plans in the town was considerably delayed. While serious planning had begun under Hobley in 1913, the remaking of the town began only in the later 1920s, and came some time after the peak of attempts to enforce the policies of separation in the hinterland.
LUTZ MARTEN
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199250639
- eISBN:
- 9780191719479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199250639.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Syntax and Morphology
This chapter applies the results of the study to a new set of original data — namely, applied (or applicative) verbs in Swahili. These verb forms have as standard been argued to result from a process ...
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This chapter applies the results of the study to a new set of original data — namely, applied (or applicative) verbs in Swahili. These verb forms have as standard been argued to result from a process of valency changing, which adds an indirect object to the base verb's subcategorization frame. Since a purely syntactic valency changing operation is surprising from the perspective adopted here, given that subcategorization is underspecified anyway, applied verbs provide apparent counter-evidence to the analysis. In this chapter, a range of new data is presented which support the underspecification analysis. They show that applied verbs do not universally introduce a new argument, but that in many contexts they do not have more arguments than their base verb. From the novel evidence it appears that the more abstract common characteristic of applied verbs is that they instruct the hearer to derive more inferential effects from the utterance than from a corresponding non-applied verb. The analysis consequently takes this as the primary function of applied verbs, i.e., they are an instruction for concept formation, and shows that the syntactic facts follow from this more fundamental characterization. Swahili applied verbs thus provide more evidence for the relation between the dynamics of argument structure, and occasion specific concept formation.Less
This chapter applies the results of the study to a new set of original data — namely, applied (or applicative) verbs in Swahili. These verb forms have as standard been argued to result from a process of valency changing, which adds an indirect object to the base verb's subcategorization frame. Since a purely syntactic valency changing operation is surprising from the perspective adopted here, given that subcategorization is underspecified anyway, applied verbs provide apparent counter-evidence to the analysis. In this chapter, a range of new data is presented which support the underspecification analysis. They show that applied verbs do not universally introduce a new argument, but that in many contexts they do not have more arguments than their base verb. From the novel evidence it appears that the more abstract common characteristic of applied verbs is that they instruct the hearer to derive more inferential effects from the utterance than from a corresponding non-applied verb. The analysis consequently takes this as the primary function of applied verbs, i.e., they are an instruction for concept formation, and shows that the syntactic facts follow from this more fundamental characterization. Swahili applied verbs thus provide more evidence for the relation between the dynamics of argument structure, and occasion specific concept formation.
Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226540887
- eISBN:
- 9780226553405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226553405.003.0009
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Cartography
The map of the Indian Ocean in the Book of Curiosities shows the Gulf of Aden as a gateway to the ports and islands of the East Africa, known today as the Swahili coast. Fatimid commercial relations ...
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The map of the Indian Ocean in the Book of Curiosities shows the Gulf of Aden as a gateway to the ports and islands of the East Africa, known today as the Swahili coast. Fatimid commercial relations with East Africa are rarely documented, and recent scholarship has doubted any Fatimid impact on the region during its formative period of Islamization. But the detailed depiction of East Africa in the Book of Curiosities points to an unexpected level of familiarity, based on information gathered from navigation along the coasts of the Horn of Africa. We have here what may be the first recorded references in Arabic to the islands of Zanzibar (al-Unguja), Mafia, and several localities and capes along the coasts of modern Somalia. The treatise allows us to visualize the Indian Ocean from a Fatimid viewpoint, with the Isma'ili anchors of Sind and the Yemen as the two crucial nodes for further political, religious and economic penetration. This Indian Ocean, unlike the Mediterranean, was not a militarised space, and Fatimid ambitions there relate to the propagation of the Isma'ili missionary network. Visually, the Indian Ocean also lacks the perfect symmetry of the Mediterranean and is shown here in disparate segments.Less
The map of the Indian Ocean in the Book of Curiosities shows the Gulf of Aden as a gateway to the ports and islands of the East Africa, known today as the Swahili coast. Fatimid commercial relations with East Africa are rarely documented, and recent scholarship has doubted any Fatimid impact on the region during its formative period of Islamization. But the detailed depiction of East Africa in the Book of Curiosities points to an unexpected level of familiarity, based on information gathered from navigation along the coasts of the Horn of Africa. We have here what may be the first recorded references in Arabic to the islands of Zanzibar (al-Unguja), Mafia, and several localities and capes along the coasts of modern Somalia. The treatise allows us to visualize the Indian Ocean from a Fatimid viewpoint, with the Isma'ili anchors of Sind and the Yemen as the two crucial nodes for further political, religious and economic penetration. This Indian Ocean, unlike the Mediterranean, was not a militarised space, and Fatimid ambitions there relate to the propagation of the Isma'ili missionary network. Visually, the Indian Ocean also lacks the perfect symmetry of the Mediterranean and is shown here in disparate segments.
Johannes Fabian
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520221222
- eISBN:
- 9780520923935
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520221222.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
What travel meant when scientific explorers began producing knowledge about vast regions such as central Africa merits close attention, especially in view of the imminent danger of disembodied ...
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What travel meant when scientific explorers began producing knowledge about vast regions such as central Africa merits close attention, especially in view of the imminent danger of disembodied postcolonial theorizing. This chapter gives an account of the course this project has taken. It took years before the author realized to place his work in the context of colonial history. Knowledge of the colonial past was essential to understand, among other things, a problem that intrigued him: How did it come about that Swahili, a language which had its origins on the east coast of Africa, would emerge, in different variants, as both a tool of Belgian colonization and a “weapon of resistance”, as the common medium through which displaced labor recruits and other immigrants created spaces of freedom for the vital and complex popular culture first encountered in the sixties?Less
What travel meant when scientific explorers began producing knowledge about vast regions such as central Africa merits close attention, especially in view of the imminent danger of disembodied postcolonial theorizing. This chapter gives an account of the course this project has taken. It took years before the author realized to place his work in the context of colonial history. Knowledge of the colonial past was essential to understand, among other things, a problem that intrigued him: How did it come about that Swahili, a language which had its origins on the east coast of Africa, would emerge, in different variants, as both a tool of Belgian colonization and a “weapon of resistance”, as the common medium through which displaced labor recruits and other immigrants created spaces of freedom for the vital and complex popular culture first encountered in the sixties?
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
An anthropological investigation into philosophy provides insights and information about traditions of knowledge and intellectual practice elsewhere in the world, in social contexts very different ...
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An anthropological investigation into philosophy provides insights and information about traditions of knowledge and intellectual practice elsewhere in the world, in social contexts very different from our own. This chapter carves out one particular approach about how this could work in relation to the Swahili context and against the background of discussions in African philosophy. Philosophy, as socialised discourse and practice, overlaps with other areas of anthropological interest, such as literature and religion. These overlaps, of genre and of discipline, can be investigated and made useful as points of orientation. However, one difficulty of introducing the project of an ‘anthropology of philosophy’ to an interdisciplinary audience with widely disparate expertise and background is dealing with all the subject-specific matters and questions in appropriate depth. The discussion tries to find a balance, presenting several sub-disciplinary turns that lead to an anthropology of philosophy.Less
An anthropological investigation into philosophy provides insights and information about traditions of knowledge and intellectual practice elsewhere in the world, in social contexts very different from our own. This chapter carves out one particular approach about how this could work in relation to the Swahili context and against the background of discussions in African philosophy. Philosophy, as socialised discourse and practice, overlaps with other areas of anthropological interest, such as literature and religion. These overlaps, of genre and of discipline, can be investigated and made useful as points of orientation. However, one difficulty of introducing the project of an ‘anthropology of philosophy’ to an interdisciplinary audience with widely disparate expertise and background is dealing with all the subject-specific matters and questions in appropriate depth. The discussion tries to find a balance, presenting several sub-disciplinary turns that lead to an anthropology of philosophy.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This chapter presents a brief sketch of the history of Mombasa and of the current socio-economic situation of the City and its Old Town. First, it discusses two central features of the Swahili ...
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This chapter presents a brief sketch of the history of Mombasa and of the current socio-economic situation of the City and its Old Town. First, it discusses two central features of the Swahili context in relation to each other, the potential of social integration, and the status-centred self-conception. Strictly speaking, they seem to contradict each other while claiming to represent the key feature of social dynamics in the Swahili context. Both the ideology of hierarchy and the process of social integration have been mentioned in the abundant literature on ‘Swahili identity’. The chapter argues argue that both crucial features of the Swahili context are somehow epitomised in the social history of Mombasa. Second, it helps to clarify why the ‘Swahili’ category is elusive and yet seemingly inevitable. Third, the chapter describes the living conditions in the Old Town of Mombasa during the time of the fieldwork.Less
This chapter presents a brief sketch of the history of Mombasa and of the current socio-economic situation of the City and its Old Town. First, it discusses two central features of the Swahili context in relation to each other, the potential of social integration, and the status-centred self-conception. Strictly speaking, they seem to contradict each other while claiming to represent the key feature of social dynamics in the Swahili context. Both the ideology of hierarchy and the process of social integration have been mentioned in the abundant literature on ‘Swahili identity’. The chapter argues argue that both crucial features of the Swahili context are somehow epitomised in the social history of Mombasa. Second, it helps to clarify why the ‘Swahili’ category is elusive and yet seemingly inevitable. Third, the chapter describes the living conditions in the Old Town of Mombasa during the time of the fieldwork.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This chapter sketches the intellectual climate of Mombasa today and also the recent intellectual history of the region, including some of its most significant scholars. They are constant reference ...
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This chapter sketches the intellectual climate of Mombasa today and also the recent intellectual history of the region, including some of its most significant scholars. They are constant reference points for discussions taking place among common people in the streets, or among scholars in their speeches or religious booklets. In describing local discourses and intellectual debates, the discussion provides evidence for the internal recognition of features that are associated with philosophy. It notes that in Swahili intellectual discourse, the label ‘philosopher’ is sometimes directly and spontaneously applied to prominent thinkers.Less
This chapter sketches the intellectual climate of Mombasa today and also the recent intellectual history of the region, including some of its most significant scholars. They are constant reference points for discussions taking place among common people in the streets, or among scholars in their speeches or religious booklets. In describing local discourses and intellectual debates, the discussion provides evidence for the internal recognition of features that are associated with philosophy. It notes that in Swahili intellectual discourse, the label ‘philosopher’ is sometimes directly and spontaneously applied to prominent thinkers.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This chapter deals with the classic philosophical questions of what is humanity (signifying the field of philosophical anthropology) and what is goodness (characterising moral theory). It provides ...
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This chapter deals with the classic philosophical questions of what is humanity (signifying the field of philosophical anthropology) and what is goodness (characterising moral theory). It provides illustrations from Swahili social discourse, using sayings and the expressed convictions of ordinary people. There is a shared common body of knowledge about what it means to be ‘human’ or ‘good’ within the wider Swahili-speaking community. The chapter sketches this out by documenting how a selected handful of young men in Kibokoni would elaborate on these issues. It presents a discussion of their overlapping and contrasting statements leading on to the portrayal and discussion of Ahmad Nassir's theory of utu, as he presents it in an extended utenzi poem.Less
This chapter deals with the classic philosophical questions of what is humanity (signifying the field of philosophical anthropology) and what is goodness (characterising moral theory). It provides illustrations from Swahili social discourse, using sayings and the expressed convictions of ordinary people. There is a shared common body of knowledge about what it means to be ‘human’ or ‘good’ within the wider Swahili-speaking community. The chapter sketches this out by documenting how a selected handful of young men in Kibokoni would elaborate on these issues. It presents a discussion of their overlapping and contrasting statements leading on to the portrayal and discussion of Ahmad Nassir's theory of utu, as he presents it in an extended utenzi poem.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
Looking back at the contextual portrayals of Ahmed Sheikh Nabhany, Ahmad Nassir Juma Bhalo, and Sheikh Abdilahi Nassir, it is evident that these diverse Swahili intellectuals have produced a ...
More
Looking back at the contextual portrayals of Ahmed Sheikh Nabhany, Ahmad Nassir Juma Bhalo, and Sheikh Abdilahi Nassir, it is evident that these diverse Swahili intellectuals have produced a corresponding range of texts, some of which are explicitly critical in character. In different ways, all three thinkers are concerned with social knowledge and its descriptive and normative aspects. Turning to their experience of social life in Mombasa and their reflection on this experience, there are counterpoints and continuities in comparison to the older generation. This chapter explores how philosophical discourse and intellectual practice in the Swahili context will continue in the future, in relation to local discourses of knowledge, Islamic debates, and the challenges of everyday life.Less
Looking back at the contextual portrayals of Ahmed Sheikh Nabhany, Ahmad Nassir Juma Bhalo, and Sheikh Abdilahi Nassir, it is evident that these diverse Swahili intellectuals have produced a corresponding range of texts, some of which are explicitly critical in character. In different ways, all three thinkers are concerned with social knowledge and its descriptive and normative aspects. Turning to their experience of social life in Mombasa and their reflection on this experience, there are counterpoints and continuities in comparison to the older generation. This chapter explores how philosophical discourse and intellectual practice in the Swahili context will continue in the future, in relation to local discourses of knowledge, Islamic debates, and the challenges of everyday life.
Sigvard von Sicard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823243198
- eISBN:
- 9780823243235
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823243198.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The spirit of Africa was imbibed by von Sicard, who grew up there and studied in South Africa before moving on to Uppsala, Hartford, and Cairo. The journey is marked by figures like Tor Andrae, F.A. ...
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The spirit of Africa was imbibed by von Sicard, who grew up there and studied in South Africa before moving on to Uppsala, Hartford, and Cairo. The journey is marked by figures like Tor Andrae, F.A. Klein, the shaykhs of al-Azhar and Sayyid Akhtar Rizvi of the Bilal Mission and immersion in Swahili language and culture. It is argued that the days of polemic and apologetic are past, to be replaced by diapraxis–growing through shared social action for the common good – and an open, sincere experience of intellectual, spiritual and humanist dimensions. The shared languages should be used to promote Christian-Muslim understanding. Human growth is directed towards God-consciousness. This is the African approach to which we are called: a sincere respect for the views and ways of others.Less
The spirit of Africa was imbibed by von Sicard, who grew up there and studied in South Africa before moving on to Uppsala, Hartford, and Cairo. The journey is marked by figures like Tor Andrae, F.A. Klein, the shaykhs of al-Azhar and Sayyid Akhtar Rizvi of the Bilal Mission and immersion in Swahili language and culture. It is argued that the days of polemic and apologetic are past, to be replaced by diapraxis–growing through shared social action for the common good – and an open, sincere experience of intellectual, spiritual and humanist dimensions. The shared languages should be used to promote Christian-Muslim understanding. Human growth is directed towards God-consciousness. This is the African approach to which we are called: a sincere respect for the views and ways of others.
Emma Hunter
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719091803
- eISBN:
- 9781781706824
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719091803.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter tells the story of the changing use of the term maendeleo in colonial Tanganyika between the turn of the century and independence in 1961. Hunter argues that it is only by appreciating ...
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This chapter tells the story of the changing use of the term maendeleo in colonial Tanganyika between the turn of the century and independence in 1961. Hunter argues that it is only by appreciating the broad way in which maendeleo was understood in local contexts and the way that it served in part as a space in which to reflect on the meaning of modernity that we can make sense of its power then and now, and that the history of this keyword provides a crucial context for understanding development discourse in late colonial Tanganyika. To make this argument, she draws on a close reading of the editorial comment and letters pages of three Swahili-language newspapers – Mambo Leo, Mwafrika and the Kilimanjaro newspaper Komkya, as well as a set of district newspapers published in 1952 by district offices around Tanganyika.Less
This chapter tells the story of the changing use of the term maendeleo in colonial Tanganyika between the turn of the century and independence in 1961. Hunter argues that it is only by appreciating the broad way in which maendeleo was understood in local contexts and the way that it served in part as a space in which to reflect on the meaning of modernity that we can make sense of its power then and now, and that the history of this keyword provides a crucial context for understanding development discourse in late colonial Tanganyika. To make this argument, she draws on a close reading of the editorial comment and letters pages of three Swahili-language newspapers – Mambo Leo, Mwafrika and the Kilimanjaro newspaper Komkya, as well as a set of district newspapers published in 1952 by district offices around Tanganyika.
David M. Gordon
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190657543
- eISBN:
- 9780190657574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190657543.003.0012
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
By the late 19th century, a caravan trade extended from the Indian and Atlantic littorals through the hinterlands of south central Africa. Industrial commodities—guns, cloths, iron, and beads—were ...
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By the late 19th century, a caravan trade extended from the Indian and Atlantic littorals through the hinterlands of south central Africa. Industrial commodities—guns, cloths, iron, and beads—were exchanged for ivory, slaves, beeswax, and rubber. Along the trade routes and in trading centers, words spread to describe new commodities, new peoples, new trading customs, and new forms of political power. These Wanderwörter originated in the languages of the coastal traders, in particular in Portuguese and Kiswahili. When the diverse vernaculars of the south central African interior were transcribed by colonial-era missionaries into “tribal” languages, such wandering words were incorporated into these languages, often disguised by distinctive orthographies. Other words were left out of dictionaries and political vocabularies, replaced by supposedly more authentic and archaic words. Examining these wandering words provides a window into linguistic dynamism and political-economic change prior to European conquest.Less
By the late 19th century, a caravan trade extended from the Indian and Atlantic littorals through the hinterlands of south central Africa. Industrial commodities—guns, cloths, iron, and beads—were exchanged for ivory, slaves, beeswax, and rubber. Along the trade routes and in trading centers, words spread to describe new commodities, new peoples, new trading customs, and new forms of political power. These Wanderwörter originated in the languages of the coastal traders, in particular in Portuguese and Kiswahili. When the diverse vernaculars of the south central African interior were transcribed by colonial-era missionaries into “tribal” languages, such wandering words were incorporated into these languages, often disguised by distinctive orthographies. Other words were left out of dictionaries and political vocabularies, replaced by supposedly more authentic and archaic words. Examining these wandering words provides a window into linguistic dynamism and political-economic change prior to European conquest.
Joash J. Gambarage
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190256340
- eISBN:
- 9780190256364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190256340.003.0019
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Bantu vowel phonemes are reflexes of the Proto-Bantu seven-vowel system /*i *ɪ *
ε
*a *ɔ *ʊ *u/. While lax high vowels were supplanted in some systems because of vowel mergers in the first two ...
More
Bantu vowel phonemes are reflexes of the Proto-Bantu seven-vowel system /*i *ɪ *
ε
*a *ɔ *ʊ *u/. While lax high vowels were supplanted in some systems because of vowel mergers in the first two degrees /*i *ɪ/ and /*u *ʊ/, lax mid vowels /
ε
ɔ/ are attested across most Bantu languages either underlyingly or at surface. Widespread use of roman orthographic vowels has left the phonemic status of mid vowels fuzzy. Here the orthography is treated as a “mask” disguising the phonetic quality of vowels, to be “unmasked” with the help of proper documentation and description. With examples from endangered Bantu languages of Tanzania and from Swahili current vowel documentation methodologies and theoretical approaches for unmasking are discussed. The distribution of mid vowels is characterized with a theory of markedness which contributes to understanding why lax mid vowels may be either triggers or targets of harmony and why a low vowel may be opaque or transparent to harmony.Less
Bantu vowel phonemes are reflexes of the Proto-Bantu seven-vowel system /*i *ɪ *
ε
*a *ɔ *ʊ *u/. While lax high vowels were supplanted in some systems because of vowel mergers in the first two degrees /*i *ɪ/ and /*u *ʊ/, lax mid vowels /
ε
ɔ/ are attested across most Bantu languages either underlyingly or at surface. Widespread use of roman orthographic vowels has left the phonemic status of mid vowels fuzzy. Here the orthography is treated as a “mask” disguising the phonetic quality of vowels, to be “unmasked” with the help of proper documentation and description. With examples from endangered Bantu languages of Tanzania and from Swahili current vowel documentation methodologies and theoretical approaches for unmasking are discussed. The distribution of mid vowels is characterized with a theory of markedness which contributes to understanding why lax mid vowels may be either triggers or targets of harmony and why a low vowel may be opaque or transparent to harmony.
