Coming of Age in Colonial Tanganyika

 

A review of Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah, The New Press, NY, 2021.

 

Pulitzer Prize winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah of Zanzibari extraction sets this novel in Tanganyika in the years just before WWI. Arab merchants and slavers had wandered freely throughout the region for decades, but their predominance was giving way to harsh German and Belgian authority.  The story tracks Yusef, son of a small time Swahili storekeeper who is conveyed to “Uncle Aziz” a successful trader in repayment of a debt. Aziz takes the sensitive boy to his coastal enclave and apprentices him to a storekeeper. Later Aziz, who supervises months-long trading caravans that cross into the Congo seeking gold, ivory and rhino horn takes Yusef along. For hundreds of miles about a hundred porters carry trade goods such and cloth and beads through deserts, bush, and jungle.  Throughout the brutal journey Yusef is coming of age, growing from a boy to a man. 

The tale is well fleshed out with lots of dialogue and ruminations through which the author paints eastern Africa of the epoch.  For the most part it was bleak. Although the coastal area was civilized and comfortable, in the interior Arab/Swahili people are few and far between and always nervous about their status. They live precariously amongst the native tribes, ever denigrating black Africans as heathen savages. Women, especially well-off Arab/Swahili women, are isolated from everyday life and controlled by men. Because of his indentured status, the same can be said of Yusef.

The safari Yusef goes on is troubled by weather, pests, disease, betrayals, deaths, and hostilities. It was, in retrospect, one of the last such undertakings as the coming war and stronger German suzerainty would prohibit further journeys. Yet for his part Yusef is an apt observer and gradually a participant in the life around him. A true innocent at the outset, he manages to escape rape, (which the author leads the reader to believe will happen at any moment). He gradually discovers his own sexual and emotional feelings.  In the end he liberates himself from the legal, traditional, and other strictures of his youth and takes responsibility for his own fate.

The title Paradise is ironic in that bush Africa, to which it refers, was anything but. That being said, Gurnah paints a vivid portrait of a vanished period peopled with believable characters.  The book is an entertaining read and exposition of what once was. 

What do White Kenyans Think?

 

A review of Unsettled – Denial and Belonging Among White Kenyans, by Janet McIntosh, University of California Press, 2016.

This is an intriguing book. Written in dry academic prose as befits the academic study it is, nonetheless, it elucidates provocatively upon its theme. The author interviewed about 150 white Kenyans, some were remnants from colonial times and the rest their descendants, most of whom remain in Kenya and most of whom carry Kenyan citizenship. The idea was to find out what they think about themselves and their roles in the contemporary nation. And what they perceive as the legacy of colonialism that they must bear and deal with.

Author McIntosh wove the results of her interviews into chapters. First, dealing with the specter of being white in a tribally divided black country.  Were whites just another tribe? In some ways yes, but their wealth and legacy of power, still tends to set them apart. Secondly, McIntosh focused on land issues, specifically an ongoing effort by Maasai activists to reclaim white owned land in Lakapia.  White opinion was strong in perceiving that ownership, stewardship and improvements entitled continued white control, although younger respondents recognized traditional claims had merit, they were uncertain how such issues should be resolved. (I was disappointed that this chapter neglected any discussion of the million-acre scheme wherein at independence land was forcibly purchased from whites and transferred to blacks).  A third chapter revolved around the 2006 murder trial of Tom Cholmondeley, a prominent white Kenyan who shot a poacher. The brouhaha aroused against Cholmondeley spilled over into wrath against all white Kenyans, causing many of them to question yet again whether they still had a place in Kenya. A fourth chapter dove into personal friendships and romantic relationships between whites and blacks. Master/servant relationships were dissected, true cross racial friendships analyzed, and it was observed that previously taboo romantic liaisons are gaining wider acceptance, especially among younger respondents. A fifth chapter covered linguistic questions. During the colonial era, whites spoke a simple form of Swahili dubbed KiSettla, that was deemed belittling to black Africans.  Their children speak the Swahili language much better and are immensely proud of that achievement considering that it underlies their commitment to being Kenyan. A final chapter focused on the occult (clearly an interest of the author), its presence in Kenya and how it is perceived across racial divisions.  

In summary, Unsettled is an interesting read for folks who know Kenya and understand – at least intuitively - the plight of former rulers becoming a tolerated minority faced with an unknown future.