Paper long abstract:

In a speech on connected histories and their relevance to Africa, Shamil Jeppie stresses the importance of islands in the reconfiguration of continental history. When Captain C. H. Stigand describes the little group of islands known as the Lamu Archipelago in northern Kenya, he argues how, historically speaking, this is the most interesting part of the British Protectorate.

Commonly referred to us as the centre of Swahili culture and literature in the 18th and 19th century, the islands of Lamu and Pate, surrounded by belt of mangrove, have seen the flourishing of important centres of literary and knowledge production. The first scriptoria which came into being on the island of Pate in the town of Siu, developed a fine craftsmanship in book production and manuscript copying; the dialects of Kiamu, Kipate, Kisiu became also the literary languages par excellence, the pure genuine dialects of the coast used for recording war poems and wedding songs verbally, but also to exchange trade letters. Nowadays, we keep witnesses of these written as well as oral traditions which are still alive and can be recalled by heart. Who does still perform and re-enact the songs and dialogue poetry of the local bards of the past and why? Based on interviews conducted in situ in 2018, this paper investigates to what extent the coastal identity and the cultural and historical tradition of the archipelago does still resonate among the community, and how it can contribute to a re-writing of African intellectual history that is both diverse and deeply rooted in African historical realities.