REMEMBERING SHAABAN ROBERT – WRITER, HUMANIST, PHILOSOPHER
The name of Shaaban Robert (1909-1962) is appended with many epithets – a famous, prominent, the greatest, original, thinker, intellectual, classic, expert, founder, enlightener, father of Swahili language … And that is true of a great artist who dedicated his personal and unique talent as well as his multifaceted creative works to “serving people and to the perpetual fight against ignorance”, the struggle for dignity of the African, for a free individual in a free society.
Shaaban bin Robert, better known as Shaaban Robert, was born on January 1st, 1909 in a small village of Vibambani, south of the port city of Tanga in Tanganyika, which was part of the German East African colony at that time.
His name is a result of harmonizing two traditions of giving names: the Muslim – Shaaban and the European – Robert. Robert is the name of a European farmer on whose plantations Shaaban’s grandfather worked, and at the birth of Shaaban’s father, the farmer suggested that his name be given to the child. Later on this middle name, Robert, became a surname. Such a binary name later on came to serve as a reflection of the writer’s tolerant and respectful attitude towards confessional issues.
The Swahili, according to their traditions, consider family ties on maternal lines. Shaaban Robert’s mother had three marriages and Shaaban was the only child in her second marriage. On the maternal side he had 13 step brothers and sisters to whom he was closer than to his paternal relatives. He took care of his relatives, helped them financially and he paid tuition fees, travel costs, etc for one of his younger brothers. Shaaban himself also had three marriages from which he had six children.
In 1922, after the death of his father (by this time Tanganyika had become a British colony), Shaaban Robert was sent to his grandfather in Dar es Salaam, where he got enrolled at an elementary school and graduated from it in 1926, having passed the English exam brilliantly. He held a second place in the exam and was awarded a school leaving certificate, a practice that was customary of the then British colonial education system in Tanganyika. Such a school certificate would give him the right to work in institutions of the British colonial administration, and he became the first African civil servant in British East Africa. Shaaban Robert understood the shortcomings of primary education and therefore he took to study, by correspondence, in England and in South Africa, continually reading the necessary educational and art literature.
The entire life of Shaaban Robert passed through conditions of a colonial society, in which the traditional life of an African had been intertwined with colonial slavery, but time was bringing in its own adjustments – the African intelligentsia was emerging, and Shaaban Robert was one of the “harbingers”. Brought up in the spirit of Swahili values of respect and reverence for elders, he carefully and conscientiously performed his official duties, working in various positions as a civil servant of the colonial government. For 18 years he worked in the customs office of the port town of Pangani, then in the veterinary department, later in the department of land management as well as in the local government of the town of Tanga. During his 34 years of service, he worked not only in Pangani but also in the towns of Moshi, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, etc.
In 1930 he began his literary work – in the form of publications in the monthly magazine “Mambo Leo” (lit. “Issues Today,” a magazine founded in 1923). Already in his first small-format works, he realized his personal educative concept. In particular, he called for respect for women as well as for the institution of marriage and family, he emphasized the importance of education to all, including women, he criticized prejudices such as towards wearing amulets, etc. In the article “A village cock does not crow in town” (Jogoo la shamba haliwiki mjini = analogue of the Russian proverb “It is better to be the first boy in the village than the last in town”) he names five attributes which a real Swahili should possess: cooperation, unity, loyalty, fidelity and patience. If everyone will possess them then, according to Shaaban Robert, the whole society will be just.
At the competition of literary works, he received his first prize – two 5 shilling books. Later on he got many awards: he received the “Margaret Wrong Memorial Prize” and a medal for his contribution to African literature, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire “M.B.E.” by the British Government and the Title – “Best Writer” by the Ministry of Culture, etc.
Beginning in the mid1940s his novels and small-size productions began to be published regularly. In 1936, Shaaban Robert wrote a draft autobiographical story, “Maisha yangu” (My Life), which won the first place at a competition of East African “young”-writers, but the manuscript got lost. He completed this literary work in 1946 (it was published in 1949). Later, in 1959-1960, he wrote a continuation of this autobiographical novel, “Baada ya Miaka Hamsini” (After the age of Fifty years), which was published in 1966.
Behind the leisurely narration about his life and work there is a hidden bitterness of a person who, though privileged as compared to other uneducated Africans, but at the same time, a “lower-class” citizen who could be transferred to another place of work without his prior consent, who could be thrown out of a bus just because the seats are needed for late-comer Asians, who could hardly secure a place at a middle school for his daughter, and so on. Behind the chronologically simple account of events and details of the life of an African civil servant during the colonial time, there is a feeling of an inner protest of the writer against any unfairness and discrimination.
The year 1946 was fruitful in the works of Shaaban Robert. He started to write philosophical and allegorical stories, as he himself called them “contemporary fairy tales.” His stories are distinctive parables that use images and architectonics of Asian folklore. These are – the trilogy: “Kufikirika” (Kufikirika – “a country of reflections / imaginations”, 1946), “Kusadikika” (Kusadikika – “a country of faith / trust”, 1948) and “Adili na Nduguze” (Adili and His Brothers,1951) .
The action takes place in imaginary countries in which “angels and genies meet in order to talk as much as possible about the main thing.” And the main thing, for Shaaban Robert, is a fair and ideal society in which every person strives for self-perfection and goodness, and that these are the qualities that would free the world from hatred, envy and cruelty. The writer is preaching universal values and denouncing vice. In these “fairy tales” he expresses his views on the best form of a social and state structure which is possible to have only with a smart and fair ruler, as it happened in the imaginary and hanging (in the air) country-“Kusadikika”. The clever ruler of the country “Kufikirika” understands the need to move forward while preserving useful traditions and at the same time adopting new ones. But the people themselves also have to be generous, patient and just, as the main character in the novel “Adili na Nduguze” is. “Be like Adili and get a kindly beginning that will cleanse life of all vices”, the writer appeals.
In the novel “Utubora Mkulima” (Peasant Humaneness), written in 1946-1947 (published in 1968), Shaaban Robert talks about love between two young people who overcame many obstacles in conditions of a traditional Swahili society – a girl from a wealthy family marries a poor but honest peasant. This production is different from “fairy tales” because here the writer draws the image of a moral positive hero in a realistic manner. Mtubora, for the writer, is a hard working, free and just person living off his own labor. Precisely such people would make up the “backbone” of the future ideal society, so the author thinks.
Many names of heroes of the writer’s prose productions have a semantic commitment: Utubora is a complex word in which “utu” is “human qualities, human nature, humanity”, “bora” is “best, excellent, outstanding”, i.e. “a person with high moral qualities”. The name of the hero of the novel “Kufikirika” is built along similar lines: “Utubusara” (utu + busara = “wisdom, prudence”), i.e. “a humane and wise man. “Karama”, the name of the hero of the story “Kusadikika”, means “God’s gift, grant, talent”, Adili – “just, honest, decent”. Just the names of these literary heroes testify to the philosophical and humanistic views of the writer, about his utopian belief in an ideal, wise individual to whom there are no frightful tests in life.
The humanistic ideas of Shaaban Robert coincided with the goals of the “Tanganyika Africans’ Association” which had been founded back in 1929 and of which he was a member. In his letters to his younger step-brother he wrote that he had also wished to become a member of the “Organization of Peasants in Handeni”.
It cannot be mentioned here that he was an active politician, but he sympathized with the compatriots’ struggle for their rights and dignity, and, according to him, he could not consider himself right to “remain only an outside observer while others were already involving themselves in active politics”.
His participation in the liberation movement was however through his literary works- his essays in which the exemplary heroes present a model of a person in a new ideal society where there is equality for all, men and women. Thus, in 1958, he wrote a short story, “Wasifu wa Siti binti Saad, Mwimbaji wa Zanzibar” ( The Life of Siti binti Saad, a Zanzibari Singer). With her talent and perseverance, a girl from a poor family, contrary to traditions of the Muslim society, won fame not only in East Africa but also far beyond its borders. As at the beginning of his author’s career, Shaaban Robert advocates gender equality, emphasizes the role of women not only in the family but also in society, he urges African women not to tolerate humiliation and to change their destiny for the better.
The writer created his last novel, “Siku ya Watenzi Wote” (All Workers’ Day) in 1960-1961 when Tanganyika had already achieved independence (09/12/1961). Shaaban Robert warmly welcomed the freedom of his country and dedicated to this unforgettable event the poem “Istakhali ya Tanganyika” (state independence “Uhuru” as the theme), published in the leading Russian newspaper “Pravda” on January 28th,1963:
“There is no finer word than “freedom”
In it is fearlessness, honor and pride,
Fresh air,expanse and light.
In it there is hope for all living
In it there is grandeur and pride of the spirit,
Joy of life and faith in goodness.
In it there is all wisdom of the past centuries.
In it there is dignity of man
Justice and beauty…
Let freedom reign everywhere
In every hut, in every heart
In every look, in every smile
In the clear sky and on land”.
( a translation)
In the novel “Siku ya Watenzi Wote”, the writer tries to answer questions on how to live in a free country under the administration of the Africans themselves, which ideological and spiritual principles should guide the creation of a new society. The writer portrays the main character of the novel, Ayubu, a representative of the young generation, as an honest worker and enlightened leader under whose leadership the community of workers would be free from social vices such as inequality, injustice, poverty, ignorance, discrimination and where everyone would work for the common good. The writer is preaching about a new faith based on a combination of Muslim and Christian values and the emancipation of man.
In that utopian novel, moral, ethical and humanistic ideas of Shaaban Robert are reflected to a certain extent consonant with the concepts of “Ujamaa” – African socialism, the ideologist of which was the first president of independent Tanganyika (Mainland Tanzania) Mwl. J.K. Nyerere, who always spoke very highly about the writer’s works.
Shaaban Robert was not only a writer but also a famous poet. Along with his first prosaic experiences in the “Mambo Leo” magazine, he also published poems and the poem that brought him the biggest fame was “Utenzi wa Vita vya Uhuru” (A Poem on the Battle for Freedom) which was published in the same journal in almost every issue, from 1942 to 1945
The poet could not help responding to the terrible event that was affecting not only Europe – the Second World War: “When in 1939 Hitler (whom Shaaban Robert calls “mbwa mwitu” (a wild dog, a wolf) unleashed the war, poetry itself forced me to respond to those events and I just could not help doing that … I felt that I could not remain indifferent, dumb and silent as the war was preoccuping the minds and feelings of everyone on earth. Human joy had become my joy, human grief – my grief; I had to do something with all means available to me to be involved in what was happening. Feelings overwhelmed me and they splashed out in verses about the war”. In this battle-epic poem, consisting of three thousand quatrains, the author successively described all significant war events – the battles for Sevastopol, Kharkov, Stalingrad, he wrote with admiration about the heroism of Soviet soldiers as well as the military commanders Timoshenko, Konev, Zhukov and he brands “the evil deeds of Germany, the like of which never happened before even during the era of savagery” as disgraceful. The poem ends with an account of salute in Moscow in honor of the great Victory:
“Thirty volleys
rang out
in honor of peace
and victory.
From creation of the world
There has never before been
such a salute
as this one in Russia”.
(a translation)
The prose works of Shaaban Robert are also rich in poetic insertions. Such are – the poem dedicated to the first wife Amina and two moralizing poems with which the author addressed her daughter and son in the story “My Life”. More than 20 small-format books published both during the writer’s life and after his death, constitute the poetical legacy of Shaaban Robert. The theme of these works is basically the same as in his prose – ethics-didactic orientation, equality and happiness of free and enlightened people, emancipation of man, determination and hard work. These are such poetic collections as “Mapenzi Bora”, 1969(Ideal Love), “Mwafrika Aimba”,1969 (the African is Singing), “Almasi za Afrika”, 1960 ( Diamonds of Africa), “Insha na Mashairi”, 1959 (Poems and Essays) and many more. His translations of “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” into Swahili (“Mashairi ya Omar Khayyam”, 1952) are considered a masterpiece in the Swahili translation practice.
The formation period of modern prose and poetry in Swahili language is associated with the name of Shaaban Robert. His literary work, while preserving continuity of traditions of classical Swahili versification and national literature at the same time, it demonstrates the possibilities of reforming, modernizing and adapting poetry and prose to contemporary language.
No wonder Shaaban Robert is called the “father” of contemporary Swahili language, forefather and founder of modern prose and poetry. For a number of years, Shaaban Robert was the chairman of the East African Swahili Committee and a member of the East African Literature Bureau, the task of which was to normalize Swahili language. In the obituary published in the Committee’s journal, mention is made of both Shaaban Robert’s significant contribution to the development of Swahili language as well as his loving kindness and warm friendly attitude.
Nine poets published their poems in memory of Shaaban Robert in the issue of that journal. And here Shaaban Robert’s speech, which he had delivered at the Makerere University (Uganda) in November 1961, “Swahili as a unifying force in East Africa”, was published less than a month before the declaration of independence of Tanganyika.
Many of Shaaban Robert’s literary works are included in primary, secondary as well as higher education syllabus in Tanzania and are often reprinted. A number of his works has been translated into other languages, including Russian. In the Soviet Union, two collections were translated through efforts of Russian Swahilists (A. Zhukov, E. Myachina, G. Gotsko, A. Averyanova, N. Girenko, V. Kudryavtsev):
– The first (1969) – “Shaaban Robert. Maisha Yangu”, which included the stories“ Kusadikika”,“Adili na Nduguze”,“Maisha Yangu”,“Wasifu wa Siti binti Saad, Mwimbaji wa Zanzibar” and“ Mafunzo yenye Adili”,
– The second (1981) – “Shaaban Robert. Selected” with three biographical stories: “Maisha Yangu”, “Baada ya Miaka Hamsini”, “Wasifu wa Siti Binti Saad, Mwimbaji wa Zanzibar”, and two novels: “Siku ya Watenzi Wote” and “Utu bora”.
Both publications are preluded by a foreword of the famous literary critic A.A. Zhukov with the reference of Shaaban Robert’s works as well as that of the historical era in which the writer lived and worked.
The creative legacy of Shaaban Robert is well known all over the world; his works are studied at many universities and are translated into different languages. It should be noted here, that it was in Russian language that the first foreign translations of Shaaban Robert’s books appeared.
According to researchers of his works, “Shaaban Robert is that peak on truly native soil which, in its significance and role in the Swahili culture, within the contemporary culture of Tanzania, can be compared with A. Pushkin in the all-Russian culture, Shakespeare in the English, Goethe in German …”.
In present-day Tanzania, this outstanding writer and poet is remembered and honored; schools and streets of a number of cities are named after him. We agree with the words of Shaaban Robert’s associate, the famous Tanzanian poet Amri Abedi, who thus predetermined the destiny of the writer’s creative legacy:
“To the wise thoughts of Shaaban, the great path is prepared.
There is no deceit in his deeds, the verse is free and uninhibited.
He is talented without flaw, and knowledgeable and educated.
Everyone should be attached to the wise thoughts of Shaaban”.
(a translation)
The educative and humanistic ideas of Shaaban Robert had a significant impact on the development of the Swahili-language literature in East Africa. Tanzanian and Kenyan writers rely on principles laid down by him to address contemporary Swahili and its orientation towards a wide readership. During the period after the achievement of independence, new genres developed, “the socio-critical element strengthened, the level of possession of decorative capacity for contemporary prose rose”. In the list of most famous works of critical realism are the novels by E. Kezilahabi, S. A. Mohamed, K. Valibory and others. The genre of socialist realism is represented by the works of the Zanzibari writer Adam Shafi. The appeal to artistic principles of modernism and postmodernism is manifested in the works of E.Kezilahabi, S.A. Mohamed, K. Vamitila, K. Mkangi and others. The contemporary literature on Swahili language is “a rapidly evolving, mobile system that is actively mastering the discoveries of world literature, which makes us to expect its intensive development in this century”. And the first steps in this direction were taken by the “Father of Swahili language” – Shaaban Robert.
This article was compiled by
Nelli Gromova, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of African Studies, Institute of Asian and African Countries, Moscow State University. The Russian Federation, 103917Moscow, Mokhovaya Street 11 (gromova@iaas.msu.ru) and was translated by The Russian-Tanzanian Cultural Centre, Dar es Salaam.
This article is dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of the famous East African writer and poet Shaaban Robert. He was the first writer of colonial Tanganyika to write in contemporary Swahili, an attribute for which he is called “father of Swahili language”.
He devoted his personal talent to the struggle for dignity of the African people, for a free individual in a free society where equality of men and women prevails. In his works he realized his own educative concepts with the making of his model heroes as a positive example of a new person. The philosophic-allegorical focus of Shaaban Robert’s works has had an unquestionable influence on contemporary Tanzanian prose writers.
Reference Literature:
1. Gromov M.D: Contemporary Literature in Swahili. IMLI RAN, Moscow, 2004, 319 p. (In Russian)
2. Zhukov A.A.: Swahili. Language and literature. Publishers – St. Petersburg University. St. Petersburg, 1997.346p (In Russian)
3. Shaaban Robert: My life. Publishers – “Hudozhestvennaya Literatura”, Leningrad, 1969. 181 p. (In Russian)
4. Shaaban Robert: Selected Works. Publishers – “Hudozhestvennaya Literatura”, Leningrad, 1981. 255 p. (In Russian)
5. Shaaban Robert: Kufikirika. Oxford University Press, 1968.
6. Mulokozi M.M.: Barua za Shaaban Robert 1931-1958. Taasisi ya Utafiti wa 7.”Kiswahili”. Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam, 2002.239 pp.
7. “KISWAHILI”. Journal of the East African Swahilli Committee. Vol. 33. Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, 1962/3. 145 pp.