The Imaginative Vision of Abdilatif Abdalla’s Voice of Agony
The University of Michigan Press (Verlag)
978-0-472-05661-3 (ISBN)
The extraordinary Swahili poetry collection Sauti ya Dhiki (Voice of Agony) is a collection of prison poems composed by Abdilatif Abdalla between 1969 and 1972. He originally wrote the poems while incarcerated by the government of Jomo Kenyatta for sedition as a result of his political activism and smuggled them out of prison on scraps of paper. Imaginative Vision is the first complete literary translation into English—translated by the late Kenyan novelist and scholar Ken Walibora Waliaula and edited by Annmarie Drury—of one of the most esteemed and influential collections of Swahili poetry of the twentieth century.
Yet, Imaginative Vision is also something more. Even as it centers on a literary translation of a singularly beautiful and influential book of poetry, it tells English-language readers the story of that book. Supporting materials illuminate the circumstances of its inception when Abdilatif, aged 22, was arrested and tried. They explore what the volume meant to its first readers and its affiliations with subsequent extraordinary works of prison literature by Alamin Mazrui and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. They trace its links to literary art of the past, including the nineteenth-century poet Muyaka bin Haji, and to writing that followed. And they explain social and historical aspects of the Swahili coastal world that nurtured Abdilatif’s political engagement and stunning verbal art. Under the editorship of scholar, translator, and poet Annmarie Drury, contributors bring insights from their diverse backgrounds to present contextualizing material that illuminates the poems at the heart of this book.
Abdilatif Abdalla is a celebrated Kenyan poet and political activist. Annmarie Drury is Associate Professor of English, Queens College, City University of New York.
Editor’s Introduction by Annmarie Drury
Preface to the Translation by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Translator’s Introduction by Ken Walibora Waliaula
Voice of Agony | Sauti ya Dhiki Translated by Ken Walibora Waliaula
I Won’t Compromise | N’shishiyelo ni Lilo
Go and Console Him | Kamliwaze
Worry Not | Tuza Moyo
The Boil | Jipu
I’ll Never Let Go | Siwati
Crocodile | Mamba
I Remember You | Nakukumbuka
Human Perfection | Ukamilifu wa Mja
What Has Offended You? | Lilokuudhi ni Lipi?
Coconut Palm: A Tug-of-War | Mnazi: Vuta N’kuvute
This Speaking Out | Kuno Kunena
Slipperiness | Telezi
Speak Out, You Who Dare | Semani Wenye Kusema
Even a Clever Guy Can’t Shave His Own Head | Muwerevu Hajinyowi
It Will End | Yatakoma
Alas, My Friend! | Ah! Mwenzangu
Be Gone, Anxiety | Wasiwasi Enda Zako
What a Bad Fellow! | Mja Si Mwema
What Will Happen? | Lipi Litakalokuwa?
Our Mother Africa | Mamaetu Afrika
Yesterday and Today and Tomorrow | Jana na Leo na Kesho
A Precious Thing Can’t Last | Chema Hakudumu
Be Patient, My Heart | Moyo Iwa Na Subira
Don’t Kill Me! | Usiniuwe!
Things Have Their Own Ways | Mambo Yana Mambo Yake
Don’t Listen to Them | Watiliye Pamba
Pampering | Tendekezo
I Wouldn’t Be Here Today | Leo N’singekuwako
Cockadoodle-do! | Kokoiko!
Don’t Cling to Silence | ’Sikakawane na Kimya
Travelers, Let’s Wake Up | Wasafiri Tuamkeni
Come to Your Senses | Zindukani
Goodbye | Kwa Heri
The Town Cockerel and the Country One | La Mjini na La Shamba
Wash Him | Muosheni
I’m Coming | Naja
Crossroads | Ndiya Panda
A Thing Can’t Be Human | Kichu Hakiwi Ni Uchu
Tit for Tat | Kutendana
I’m Back | N’sharudi
Critical Perspectives
Sauti ya Dhiki: Its Place in Swahili Literature and
East African Literature by Ann Biersteker
Abdilatif and I: Reflections on Comparative Experiences by Alamin Mazrui
Rhymed, Metrical Translations of Four Poems by Meg Arenberg
This is What I Hold Fast | N’shishiyelo ni Lilo
Crocodile | Mamba
I Remember You | Nakukumbuka
Which Will It Be? | Lipi Litakalokuwa?
Textual Backgrounds: Voice of Agony in Its Historical Moment
Kenya: Twendapi? | Kenya: Where Are We Heading? by Abdilatif Abdalla, Translated by Kai Kresse
Introduction to the 1973 edition by Shihabuddin Chiraghdin, Translated by Ann Biersteker
Author’s Preface to the 1973 edition by Abdilatif Abdalla, Translated by Ann Biersteker
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
| Erscheinungsdatum | 06.02.2024 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | African Perspectives |
| Verlagsort | Ann Arbor |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Anthologien |
| Literatur ► Lyrik / Dramatik ► Lyrik / Gedichte | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-472-05661-1 / 0472056611 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-472-05661-3 / 9780472056613 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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