Musical Figuring of Dar es Salaam Urban Marginality in Mbogo’s Swahili Novel Watoto wa Maman’tilie*
Abstract
Watoto wa Maman’tilie (lit. Children of a Woman Street Food Vendor), a Swahili novel by a Tanzanian writer Emmanuel Mbogo, narrates the horrendous experiences of children who are forced to drop out of school and become street children. The novel also narrates their survival strategies in the periphery of the city. This article discusses how the novel uses musical figures including songs by renowned African popular musicians, Swahili local dances and music genres as semiotic resources to represent and criticise the urban forms of marginality and the resulting experiences of the urban underclass. It shows how the novel creatively uses the musical figures to construct the novelistic world and to offer a critique of urban marginality.
Opsomming
Watoto wa Maman'tilie (oftewel Kinders van 'n straatverkoper) is 'n roman in Swahili van die Tanzaniese skrywer Emmanuel Mbogo. Dit handel oor die aaklige belewenisse van kinders wat noodgedwonge skool moet verlaat en straatkinders word. Planne wat hulle maak om aan die buitewyke van die stad te oorleef, word eweneens in die roman uitgebeeld. Die rol van musiekfigure, liedjies deur bekende popmusikante uit Afrika, plaaslike Swahilidanse, en musiekgenres word in hierdie artikel bespreek. Dit dien as semiotiese middele waarmee stedelike marginaliteit en die gepaardgaande belewenisse van die stedelike onderklas uitgebeeld en gekritiseer word. Die artikel toon aan hoe musiekfigure op 'n skeppende wyse aangewend word om die roman-wêreld op te bou en die voorstelling van die stadsbestaan in die leser se verbeelding te bepaal.
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