The Genres of Swahili Philosophy

Philosophy & Rhetoric Jul 2023

Alena Rettová University of Bayreuth

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article maintains that African philosophy should consider those discourses that function as channels of important ideas in African cultures, without prejudice against their language and, especially, their genre. What are such philosophical discourses? This article starts from a case study, Swahili culture, and interrogates the communicative resources available to it to serve as vehicles of philosophical thought. The survey includes language itself, proverbs, musical performance (sung lyrics), metric and free-verse poetry, novelistic prose, theoretical writings, and translations. Based on this spectrum of genres, the article ventures some general observations about the relationship of African philosophy to language and genre.

Journal: Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published: 2023-07-04
DOI: 10.5325/philrhet.56.1.0008
Open Access: Closed
Topics: qualitative research

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