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Paper short abstract:

This paper seeks to tower over the assumption that Literatures in African Languages are too provincialised. The aim is to show how some Swahili works of narrative fiction genuinely tackle the connection between national, regional and global matters.

Paper long abstract:

'Literatures in African Languages or what postcolonial theories have so far neglected '. In this thoughtful paper published in Neohelicon 35/2, Xavier Garnier (2008) draws attention to the fact that Literatures in African Languages urgently deserve being looked at beyond customary epithets such as 'local', 'popular' and essentially 'didacticʼ. A current development in Swahili literature features works that are complex and global in essence, which brings about a twofold interpretation. On the one hand, a social role that can be attributed to selected Swahili works is that of standing as cultural bridges to local readers who are invited to travel mentally. On the other hand, these works put forward the idea that nowadays discourses on the nation cannot be detached from parameters akin to the world. Three Swahili works of narrative fiction authored by culture professionals who are aware of world intricacies will serve as the corpus for attesting to the working premise: Babu Alipofufuka [When Grandfather Came to Life Again; 2001] by Said. A. Mohamed, Bina-Adamu! [God's Wretched Sons; 2002] by Kyallo Wamitila and Makuadi wa Soko Huria [Pimps of the Free Market Economy; 2002] by Seithy Chachage.