The satirical portrayal of Africa’s development issues: Examples from Kiswahili short stories
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Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The 20th and now 21st centuries have witnessed the outpour of satirical
works that are purported to be portraying and discussing Africa’s
development problems. Certainly this is the case in East Africa where,
for example, cartooning, comedy shows and oral and written literary
satires are flourishing. While this paper uses Kiswahili literary satire to
make some theoretical deliberations on what satire is, it also discusses
the place of two popular Eurocentric satirical traditions propounded by
Horatio and Juvenal. Several questions are raised and an attempt has
been made to answer them regarding the satirical mode and its place in
examining issues that affect the people of Africa: What is the nature of
African/Kiswahili literary satire? Can we formulate our own theories
regarding African satire that aid in portraying and discussing Africa’s
development? Why has satire become a dominant artistic mode in the
portrayal of Africa’s development path? Of what practical use are
wit/humour, irony, and sarcasm – the main ingredients of satire, in
exposing and discrediting vice and folly in Africa? In short, using
examples from Kiswahili short stories, the paper examines the relevance
or, indeed, irrelevance of satirical mode and traditions to Africa’s
development and the discourse of such development in deliberating on
the future of Africa.
Description
Keywords
Development, Irony, Kiswahili, Traditions, Satirical mode
Citation
Daniel, Z. L. (2016). The satirical portrayal of Africa’s development issues: Examples from Kiswahili short stories. JULACE: Journal of the University of Namibia Language Centre, 1(1), 116-130.