Somali Literature

Web dossier African Studies Center Leiden (2020). To commemorate Somalia’s independence and give broader visibility to newly acquired Somali works in Leiden, I curated a Somali Day and compiled this web dossier which surveys Somali literature and its far-reaching connections in East Africa, Indian Ocean and the diaspora.

This paper formulates some changes in Somali poetry composition through the transition of the Somali literature from oral to a written culture since the introduction of a writing system for the Somali language in 1972. These changes are first observed through the comparison of themes and styles of poetry used by the classic nomadic and pastoralist poets (1800-1970ies) versus the themes and styles used by the educated university graduate poets in the cities (post-1972). A second comparison is done between the first generation of educated poets (1970ies - 1990) and the current generation of young poets in the era of social media, and how these changes are observed in the literature both in terms of imaginative themes on social issues, and the introduction of new styles and structures of poetry by the contemporary poets. To understand better the comparison, the peculiarities of Somali poetry, including the alliteration and meter system, are briefly explained. In the second part, the pa...

Questo articolo ha lo scopo di analizzare come, nel romanzo Il la e è buono (2005), l'autore Garane Garane utilizzi riferimenti alla tradizione orale (oratura) somala. L'articolo cerca altresì di suggerire, allontanandosi dalla le eratura accademica recente sul conce o di oralità negli scri i postcoloniali, una le ura più approfondita, che non veda nel conce o di oralità un'ipotetica espressione di africanità tout court. L'analisi intersemiotica cercherà quindi di esplorare la speci cità del contesto, multiculturale e multilinguistico, all'interno del quale l'autore e il testo si collocano.

This article compares the representation of Somali Islamic culture in the work of two contemporary diasporic Somali intellectuals: the novelist Nuruddin Farah and the politician, philosopher and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Farah’s novels and Ali’s autobiographical and philosophical writings both fall into the category of ‘engaged literature’, seeking a positive change for their troubled country. While both are critical of gender relations in Islam and express liberal and feminist views, their attitudes to Islam have different nuances and work at different levels. The article shows that despite their differences, both Ali and Farah embrace the values of liberal humanism, replacing the pious Muslim believer with the doubting and questioning Enlightenment individual, posing a challenge to the traditional Muslim identity. The difficult question that both seek to answer is how Islam can be modernized to fit the needs of contemporary Somalia and whether Enlightenment’s secular values – especially the idea of the self as the ethical source – can or should replace the Islamic ethics centred around Allah.

Introduction to an unpubklished Italian translation of Xuseen Sheekh Axmed Kaddare's Somali novel "Waasuge iyo Wrasame". It deals with (i.) the history of the novel, (ii.) stylistic features such as alliteration, the use of binomial and trinomial expressions, and the frequent quotations from traditional Somali oral literature, (iii.) the poetic genres that occur in the novel.

Abstract

“Writing Dictatorship in Selected Works by Nuruddin Farah, a Foucauldian Reading” examines the notions of dictatorship and democracy as represented in Somali writer Nuruddin Farah’s novels, From a Crooked Rib (1970), A Naked Needle (1976), Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), and Close Sesame (1983). This dissertation focuses on how Farah’s inscription of the theme of dictatorship in his five early novels can be elucidated through an understanding of Foucauldian theories of power. To this end, it analyzes Farah’s textual inscriptions of dictatorship and democracy under a Foucauldian gaze and within the unique, localized Somali context (specifically during the years of Siad Barre’s régime from 1969 to 1991) in relation to their familial, societal, religious, and political dimensions; emphasis is placed on the multifaceted nature of these dimensions and on their complex interconnections. Chapter One presents the Foucauldian framework that is applied throughout the dissertation, especially the key concept of power and its interrelated notions, such as discourse, discipline, knowledge, and truth. Chapter Two investigates Somali dictatorship in Farah’s texts as it develops out of the domestic intimacy of the Somali household (the jes) into the seat of power (the Villa Somalia), stressing the parallel forms of hierarchy that exist between the familial and political dictatorships. Chapter Three, which discusses the efforts of some of Farah’s characters to counter dictatorship and move towards a more democratic Somalia, advances the idea that democracy finds its roots within the Somali family whilst it also underscores that dictatorial aspects can exist even within those who are democratically motivated. Farah’s texts constitute rich sites for exposing the contradictions, challenges, and controversies inherent in the issues of dictatorship and democracy, within a Foucauldian framework, in the work of a Somali writer who has mastered the political novel.