Identity and Memory in Swahili War Verses: The Long Road to an East African Self

Abstract

The article aims at an analysis of memory and identity based on literary evidence, and in particular on Swahili war poetry. Starting from the assumption that identity consists in the fact that it requires a balance between self-assertion and respect for others, between difference and integration. Traditional theories have introduced a distinction between personal identities and social identities. It is not easy to determine the boundary line of where the self ends and where the non-self begins. Identity is a point of anchorage and it is for this reason that people appear to be committed to building and maintaining a feeling of themselves with all that is involved: a story, a wealth of emotions and values, individual and collective memories, a system of social roles capable of defining one's place in the world. Although identity can constitute a block to the knowledge and understanding of others, it is also true that it represents a point of reference from which to take the steps towards self-determination. In their function of handing down messages through their verses, the poets become the tools through which the other – the readers or the listener – responds. The Swahili genre of Utenzi, alias epic, seems to be  suitable for examination of the message that each poet or author gives to his target of readers. I consider two islamic-based epics namely Chuo cha Herekali and Rasi ‘l Ghuli, two tenzi referring to European Colonial period, namely Vita vya Maji Maji and Vita vya Wadachi, and the epic Vita vya Kagera referring to the first war against an African enemy, namely Ugandan Idi Amin Dada.