Texts on Swahili cultural artefacts in Tanzania and the representation of women’s voice
Loading...
Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
This paper seeks to examine how women express themselves in Swahili
through household cultural artefacts in Tanzania. The paper focuses on
words or texts written on the cultural artefacts, especially food covers
and hand fans. We analyze these two artefacts together due to the fact
that in Swahili society they are mainly used by women at homes and they
have some parallels in the content of their texts. Although these artefacts
are found in various parts of the country, they are mostly widely available
in the coastal areas. The data of this paper, therefore, were collected in
three coastal areas in Tanzania, namely Kilwa, Tanga and Dar es
Salaam. The paper uses the Semiotic Theory in the analysis of of its
data. It is generally revealed that food covers and hand fans serve as an
important means of communication among Swahili women. The artefacts
present issues of the women while at the same time communicating their
messages to a wider audience.
Description
Keywords
Cultural artefacts, Women's voice, Swahili, Tanzania
Citation
Omari, S. (2016). Texts on Swahili cultural artefacts in Tanzania and the representation of women’s voice. JULACE: Journal of the University of Namibia Language Centre, 1(1), 131-150.