Contents
- Book Review of A Collection of Proverbs From the Kenya Media
- Announcing a New Booklet on a Sukuma Myth
- New Book: Once Upon a Time in Africa: Stories of Wisdom and Joy
- Book Review of Luyia Proverbs (from Kisa, Marama,
Tsotso and Wanga)
- Book Review of African Stories for Preachers and Teachers
- Book Review of Nzerumbawiri: Provérbious Sena How To
Enliven Community Development Making the Most Of Oral Literature
- Book Summary of Hugo the Hippo
- Book Review of Once Upon a Time in Africa: Stories of
Wisdom and Joy
- Book Review of Sharing Boundaries: Learning the Wisdom of
Africa
- Book Review of What African Myths Tell
- Catfish and Toad
- Book Review of Under One Roof: Gikuyu Proverbs
Consolidated
- Book Review of Proverbi Samburu -- Samburu Sayings
- TALKING DRUMS
- Remembering the Home Spirits
- Book Review of Footprints of God
- Book Review of Oral Literature of the Sukuma
- Announcement of a forthcoming book: Under One Roof: A New Collection of Gikuyu Proverbs
- New French volume in the African Proverbs Series
- Book Review of The Clever Young Man and the Monster: The Sukuma Myth of Shing'weng'we and Masala Kulangwa
- Review of African Proverbs CD-ROM
- Book Review of Towards An African Narrative Theology
- Book Review of Were You There? Stations of the Cross
- Book Comments on The ABCs of American Culture
- Book Review of African Proverbs on Peace and War
1.
Book Review of A Collection of Proverbs From the Kenya
Media
Title: A
Collection of Proverbs From the Kenya Media
Collected and compiled by: Joseph
Kariuki
Privately published -- Nairobi,
Kenya 2007
Reviewed by: Angela Taiyana
Nairobi, Kenya
May 4, 2007
This compilation shows us how the
“proverb” (or maxim, adage) is utilized by Kenyan citizens via the Kenyan
media, and the most common feature of these proverbs is that they are being
used to highlight the political atmosphere in the country.
Traditionally proverbs were widely
used by elders to teach their juniors important lessons in life, and the basis
behind this was the mere fact that a proverb was more enticing due to the
challenge that came with deciphering it, as opposed to un-stimulating,
straightforward statements.
For example, the very common
Swahili proverb, “Asiyekubali kushindwa si mshindani” carries a lot of weight.
Its direct meaning may not be considered to be very inspiring, for a surface
translation could mean that defeat is one of the stepping stones to becoming a
winner. “So why put effort in the first place?” could be an associate question.
This might of course imply very shallow thinking, but it is quite justified in
my opinion. If a young minded person translated this directly, this could be
his/her summation of the statement.
But when you look into the deeper
meaning and apply it to real life, you then might actually come up a thought
along the lines of, “if at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try
again”. This is a motivational statement that gives you the will to go on
fighting in life.
This traditional use of proverbs
has changed somewhat drastically from its simplified educative state and has
now become some sort of weapon used to criticize and pass judgment, as well as
being used as a shield against same.
Joseph Kariuki was born in central
Kenya. As he was growing up in the high nappier grass that constituted his
immediate environment due to his father’s grazing activities, he learnt to
listen to stories from his mother and elders around the homestead. He heard the
kikuyu proverbs over and over again.
While a student in his rural home,
he learnt that proverbs meant a lot to the kikuyu people, mainly from the
central highland of Kenya. Joseph Kariuki who later made it into Kenya’s first
university –University of Nairobi, met the famous professor Ciaruji Chesaina, a
great literature writer who has written a number of books and who later in life
became Kenya’s’ first woman Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa.
“I must say she was my
greatest literature proverb hero.
Later in life I met Professor Gerald Wanjohi, a great philosopher from Nyeri,
who again guided my thoughts and writing and made me start collecting these
proverbs so that I today can be able to present them. My main sources were the
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Nation Television, Kenya Television Network,
Citizen TV, the Daily Nation, Kameme FM, Inooro FM and Cooro Fm”.
“What changed my life was meeting
an American Maryknoll Father Joseph Healey MM , who has been my main
collaborator in collecting these proverbs and who made it possible for the
material to be published. I must say we all need the word of encouragement from this word of proverb. The late president Julius
Nyerere of Tanzania punctuated many of his words by using proverbs, and this
made him a great orator who knew his words and when to use them”.
I therefore cannot help but notice
the context of these proverbs chosen for this compilation. They have made light
some potentially explosive libelous as well slanderous expressions. The
criticism was somewhat toned down, even to the extent of being comical.
For
example, “Uthuri wa itonga ndununganga (Kikuyu), which if directly translated
means “A rich mans fart does not smell”. A bit crude, but funny nevertheless.
The political analyst using this proverb was actually targeting leaders who
“speak nonsense”. That in itself would probably constitute slander if it was
directly stated to the target. It may not actionable slander, but who needs the
headache of the hullabaloo that could be an adjunct to it? Certainly not the
journalists struggling to practice media law and ethics!
Another was “ Kiamia kimwe ciamia
ciothe (Kikuyu), whose direct translation was ‘ When one uncircumcised boy
defecates, all have defecated’. This was used to imply that if some government
officials were corrupt, then stood to chance that the whole government was
corrupt.
On the positive side of things
though, the “educational” proverbs require kudos. They are very specific in
their hidden message, and cannot be faulted for promoting criticism. Some
examples are “Mtaka cha uvunguni sharti ainame” and “Kidole kimoja
hakivunji chawa”. They are very
simplistic and support hard work and unity respectively.
Therefore
one can conclude that the most important aspect of proverb use lies in its
interpretation. The mode and capability to do this can make or break a
proverb.
The acceptance of proverb use in
mainstream communication goes to show its effectiveness in dissemination of
opinion, be it private or public. There is potential in this literary genre as
well the ability to grow to greater heights, mainly due to its intellectually
interactive nature.
Angela Taiyana is an intern with
People for Peace in Africa. She is a graduate in International relations at
USIU, Nairobi-Kenya.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
E-Mail ppa@africaonline.co.ke
Tel 254-20-4441372
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org
2.
Announcing a New Booklet on a Sukuma Myth
Title: Tears of Joy: African Story about Heroes and Monsters
Author: Donald Sybertz
Illustrator: Khalid Yusuf
Publisher:
Mathews Bookstore & Stationers
P.O. Box 42067
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Date of Publication: December, 2006
Pages: 27 pages
Price: $3 or 3,500/= Tanzanian Shillings
Reviewer: John P. Mbonde
One of the pioneers to open the way to a positive understanding of the Sukuma culture in Tanzania in the 1950s was Father Jan Hendricks, M.Afr. who was nicknamed "Chenya" by the local people. He was encouraged in this work by Bishop Joseph Blomjous, M, Afr. of the then Mwanza Diocese. Hendricks soon associated himself in his cultural studies with the famous Father David Clement, M.Afr, founder of the Sukuma Cultural Museum at Bujora. Hendricks collected a number of Sukuma stories especially "Myths of Origin and Destiny." Among these stories there were seven different versions of the myth of the monster Shing’weng’we and his protagonist the clever young man Masala Kulangwa.
Among all the beasts that are known to have existed and that still stir the imagination of modern men and women, dinosaurs have a very special place in the life of the people. They appeared on earth about a hundred million years ago, and though their existence is known only by their fossil remains, they still fascinate us tremendously in Africa and around the globe. Indeed, any picture of a dinosaur on television or a video screen can only be a product of the human imagination. Humans appeared on the earth approximately 3,000,000 years ago, and the last dinosaur died at least 60,000,000 million years ago. And yet, dinosaurs still stir our imaginations.
A story, a tale, a myth such as the Sukuma myth of Shing’weng’we and Masala Kulangwa, meticulously narrated in Tears Of Joy, can still be used more effectively than a scientific explanation to teach certain metaphysical truths and to give very powerful moral lessons to young people. In Jewish traditions myths are commonly used to explain the creation of the world and the first man and woman. When one once hears of the description of the monster, he or she draws an imaginative picture of a formidable monster from a fairyland.
It is incredible that after 51 years of extensive research on the rich Sukuma cultural traditions and oral literature (stories, songs, proverbs, riddles, myths, folklore, etc), the author Father Donald Sybertz, M.M., a Maryknoll Missioner living in Shinyanga, Tanzania, has every reason to rejoice and be congratulated for having such a good command of the Sukuma language and finally helping the full, definitive version of this myth to see the light of the day in this 27 page booklet.
In this book, Tears of Joy, the monster appears in the village in the form of a large pumpkin which kept on growing and growing all the time until it became so enormous that all were truly amazed. People ran to get their weapons. The pumpkin suddenly burst open and a monster with long claws and sharp teeth came roaring out. All the people, elders, men and women, boys and girls, children and babies, even cattle and goats were swallowed.
It was the son of the lone woman who escaped from being swallowed by the monster who later killed the monster with a stone. The name of this courageous boy is Masala Kulangwa. It was a great achievement for him and for all the men and women of his Sukuma Ethnic Group who came out of the stomach dancing and singing: "Masala Kulangwa killed him. We are all free and alive again. What a man this Masala Kulangwa is." They made Masala Kulangwa their Chief and King of the Whole World.
This myth touches the metaphysical problems of death and the afterlife. Shing’weng’we is diabolically a terrible monster, apparently unconquerable and without mercy. Every human being must fall victim to him. This is the law from which no one can escape. The monster’s stomach is the symbol of earth (from which comes all fertility). It also symbolizes the tomb where everybody will sooner or later be swallowed (common death).
Masala Kulangwa has won the victory. But that victory, the discovery, is the result of a terrible battle and can only be attained through the child maturing and learning something about nature. She or she must discover that he or she is both a physical and a spiritual being. Hence the story gives powerful insights culturally, spiritually, politically and socially. It emphasizes the spectacular truth that a person cannot renounce the relationship one has with the source of one's life, parents, ancestors and extended family ties. It carefully underscores some philosophical and theological truths as food for thought.
This is why every Sukuma person believes and is firmly convinced in his or her deep self that after death one will live on as a "living dead," and that he or she will still be related to all of his or her lineage. After death one will not need food. No one will be able to touch or see the person. But the person will still be able to love and be loved.
This booklet is the definitive Sukuma version of this myth. There may be hundreds of versions and variations of this Sukuma myth in other African ethnic groups and languages. The monster is always represented as having enormous size, but sometimes is said to have seven or even a hundred heads. Since time immemorial humans have always been scared of such monsters. In African folklore there is an abundance of monsters, giants, ogres and dragons of which Shing’weng’we is just one.
Today, there are political monsters, economic monsters and many such evil monsters in all walks of life who terrorise the weak community all over the globe. People are being devoured by such monsters mercilessly, but it is not an easy job to find another brave Masala Kulangwa to rescue us in this turmoil in which we are engulfed (HIV/AIDS, corruption, abject poverty, negative globalization, drug-trafficking, weapons of mass destruction, etc).
This booklet Tears of Joy is also available in two other languages:
Swahili: Machozi ya Furaha.
Sukuma: Shisoji ja Buyegi.
It has been colourfully illustrated by Khalid Yusuf Both children and adults will find this book to be a very useful companion in schools, at home and in our pastoral ministry. It can be purchased from Mathews Bookstore & Stationers at the address above. NOTE: Different short versions of this myth can be found in the online "African Stories Database" at:
http://www.afriprov.org/story/searchstory.htm
Please click on the links below to view one of the three stories found in our African Stories Database that particularly relate to the New Booklet on Sukuma Myth are:
The Clever Young Man and the Monster
Masala Kulangwa and the Monster Shing’weng’we
The Challenge of Pastoral Inculturation
Fr. Don explains about the story Members of Fr. Don's Sukuma research committee
Guests and committee members listen to a reading from the book Guests at the book launch
- New book: Once Upon a Time in Africa: Stories
of Wisdom and Joy
Listen to the interview with
Joseph Healey the author of the new book
Compiled by Joseph G. Healey, M.M.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004
ISBN 1-57075-527-2.
Paperback. 144 Pages.
Price: US $15
These 86 stories come from every part of Africa and range from South Africa and Kenya in East Africa to Burkina Faso and Nigeria in West Africa. The stories are grouped under the following chapter headings: "In the Beginning," "Life," "Family," "Community," "Good Times and Bad Times," "Joy and Celebration," "Culture Matters" and "Seeds of God in African Soil."
Each chapter begins with a striking African proverb such as: When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion (Amharic proverb from Ethiopia). If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance. (Shona proverb from Zimbabwe). I pointed out to you the stars and all you saw was the tip of my finger (Sukuma proverb from Tanzania). The book has 20 black and white illustrations.
In collecting these African stories, Father Healey hopes to shed some light on your own spiritual journey. For, after all, once upon a time and for all time, the journey is one. Father Joseph Healey, M.M. is an American Maryknoll missionary priest who has worked in Kenya and Tanzania for 35 years.
To order your copy of Once Upon a Time
in Africa: Stories of Wisdom and Joy go to the Orbis Books/Maryknoll
Website at: http://www.maryknollmall.org.
The specific link is: http://www.maryknollmall.org/description.cfm?ISBN=1-57075-527-2
Charge customers call Orbis Books toll-free: 1-800-258-5838
Fax Orders: 914-941-7005
For those who want to order by postal mail
contact:
Orbis Books
Box 302
Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302
USA
NOTE: It is also available on online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- Luyia
Proverbs
(from Kisa, Marama, Tsotso and Wanga)
By Tim Wambunya
London: Luyia Publishing Company, 2005.
60 pages.
ISBN: 996605009-4
£ 5.00 (including postage) from: t.wamb@virgin.net
300 Kenya Shillings in Kenyan bookshops
In this collection Tim Wambunya has managed to bring together 605 proverbs from four out of sixteen Luyia sub-tribes or dialects, i.e., Kisa, Marama, Tsotso, and Wanga. The proverbs are arranged in alphabetical order, starting with the original Luyia proverb as they are known and used by Luyia people. Each proverb is followed with a literal translation in English. For some of them suitable English translations could not be found.
Most of the proverbs concern the everyday life of around 3.5 million Luyia people living in western Kenya, north of Lake Victoria. The proverbs are mainly concerned with the environment, economic activities, belief, culture, tradition, and social life in general. The two following proverbs are provided as examples. NOTE: The reviewer has suggested the application.
No. 2 (page 7): Abafwa babula olutseshe luleera
(BKE6) Literal translation: The dead have no clear drinking straw.
Application: There is life after death although it is not clear how
people survive without eating and drinking. Reference to a Drinking straw does
suggest the habit of drinking local brew as one of the habits amongst the
Luyia. One can deduce from this proverb that Luyia believe in life after death.
That is why they do not forget their tradition of drinking beer (or even eating
food), but those who are still alive do not know how the dead drink.
No. 471 (page 48): Omwoyo omulayi kuchira walia
eshifisire (HWA1)
Literal Translation: A good heart makes one get the hidden thing.
Application: This proverb can be used to encourage people to associate
amicably with other people. In so doing one will learn and benefit in various
ways -- bodily and spiritually.
Wambunya has succeeded remarkably in the preservation of the valuable heritage of these endangered African proverbs for the immediate and next generations. A general comment: there should be some stories or practical explanations of how each proverb is used in actual or concrete situations among the Luyia people.
J. P. Mbonde
P.O. Box 3479, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Email: jopahanya@yahoo.com
Retired Teacher, Commissar, Party Secretary, District Commissioner, Veteran
Publisher/Editor, Author of Books, Graduate from Sydney University (Australia)
and De Montfort University U.K, Freelance Journalist, Analyst and Educational
Consultant.
5.
Book Review of African
Stories for Preachers and Teachers
Compiled by
Joseph G. Healey
Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2005.
Paperback, 152 pages.
Price: $5.
Reviewed by John P. Mbonde
The author, Joseph G. Healey, is an American Maryknoll priest who was ordained in 1966. He has worked in East Africa since 1968 and presently is lives in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is the renowned prolific writer and analyst of African proverbs and stories including the famous book Towards an African Narrative Theology (published by both Orbis Books and Paulines Publications Africa). He has been in East Africa since 1968, and has written several other books including: A Fifth Gospel: The Experience of Black Christian Values; Kuishi Injili (Living the Gospel); and Kueneza Injili Kwa Methali (Preaching the Gospel Through Proverbs). He is involved in continuous research on African stories, proverbs, sayings, poems, folklore, etc.
In his other recent book, Once Upon a Time in Africa, published by Orbis Books, 2004 Joseph Healey collected stories that are beautifully, uniquely African at the same time convey universal wisdom and truth. "For the specialist in African folklore and the student of life alike, this book is a treasure,"observes Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard University.
Now African Stories for Preachers and Teachers is published by Paulines Publications Africa, 2005. It has a collection of 139 stories from 18 countries in every part of Africa and range from stories in South Africa to Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa to Burkina Faso and Nigeria in West Africa. The stories are grouped under the following chapter headings: AIDS (7 stories); Community (14 stories); Culture Matters (20 stories); Education (3 stories); Faith (11 stories); Family (12); Good Times and Bad Times (11); Joy and Celebration (11); Life (18); Prayer (6); Seeds of God in African Soil (16); and Stories of the Beginning (10).
The author describes that "story" includes many different forms of African oral and written literature such as folktales, historical fiction, legends, myths, parables, poems prayers, proverbs, sayings, and songs. The book draws on true stories from African history and mission experience in Africa. These real life stories “ those that tell of real people and events -- have their own power to inspire, uplift, challenge, and stimulate our lives.
For example, take the story "President Nyerere Disguises Himself as a Beggar" on page 74. "He [the President] disguised himself as a beggar wearing worn-out clothes and an old hat. When he arrived at the gate of the branch of the National Milling Company in Shinyanga, no one recognised him. He simply passed through the gate without permission and went straight to the office of the manager. He knocked on the door and yelled out, "Hey, you people in there! Help me! I don't have any food..." The manager and his assistant were busy with some local businessmen who were buying the famine relief food that was supposed to go to the Tanzanian people. Finally, Nyerere opened the door and walked into the office. He took off his hat and made himself known. Needless to say, the manager was speechless..."
This book of African Stories is a valuable resource for preachers, homilists, teachers and people who work in communications media as well as for reflection in small groups such as Small Christian Communities and discussion groups in all walks of life.
John P. Mbonde is a retired Tanzanian civil servant, journalist, and author of books, book reviewer and analyst of African oral literature. He has traveled all over the world on academic and study tours.
Mr.
John P. Mbonde
P. O. Box 3479
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Email: jopahanya@yahoo.com
6. Book Review of Nzerumbawiri: Provérbious Sena How
To Enliven Community Development Making the Most Of Oral Literature
Compiled by Joseph Pampalk
This book is a collection of 425 proverbs, fruit of a long experience of listening to the wisdom of people originally expressed in the language of the Asena people who live in the central provinces of Mozambique especially in Sofala, Manica e Tete, and Zambesia. The proverbs are in Cisena and translated into Portuguese presenting their particular meaning in the context of the life of the people with reference to universal values.
Through the title 'Nzerumbawiri' ('the wisdom is two') and the subtitle, the author underlines that this work is not merely a collection but a selection of special Sena proverbs to express their communitarian feeling and the value of living, working, building, and struggling together to make progress in personal, family and community life. After the prologue (Nos. 1-10), the main parts of the book are: Poverty as a condition of life (Nos. 11-51); the social dimension of life (Nos. 52-273); fragility and the greatness of human beings (Nos. 274-391); and an epilogue about education (Nos. 392-425).
The aim of this selection of proverbs is to be an instrument in the hands of the community leaders to foster human development through continuing contact and sharing the treasure of their wisdom with the pride of transmitting it to new generations so that they may become more and more open to solidarity, brotherhood, justice, and peace. This collection will be very useful in the work of evangelization.
To order a copy of Nzerumbawiri: Provérbios Sena, write to:
Paulinas -
Livraria e Audiovisuais
Av. Eduardo Mondlane, 1536
Maputo, Mozambique
E-mail: paulinas@viconn.com
Paulinas 'Centro Multimedia' Evangeliza'o e Cultura
Rua Rey Katyavala, 162
Luanda, Angola
E-mail: paulinas.ang@ebonet.net
Paulines Publications Africa
P.O. Box 49026
00100 Nairobi GPO, Kenya
E-mail: publications@paulinesafrica.org
Reviewed by Sister Maria
Decarli, FSP
audiovisuals@paulinesafrica.org
7. Book Summary of Hugo the Hippo
By John P.
Mbonde
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Mathews Bookstore & Stationers.
First Edition, 1972. Revised Edition, 2004.
Paperback. 45 pages.
ISBN 9987 602 29 0
This is a partially true story (based on the well known Swahili story Hadithi ya Kiboko Hugo) of the famous hippopotamus who really lived in salt water at Kurasini Creek, south of Dar es Salaam city during the 1960s and who was the centre of tourists’ attraction. The author, John P. Mbonde in his capacity as a scoutmaster and a Headmaster of Mzimuni Middle School, Dar es Salaam, camped at Kurasini in an effort of saving both the rice and Hugo the Hippo who invaded the rice fields. The scouts built a fence around the fields.
In this delightful and exciting tale, Mbonde looks at the problems of wildlife conservation in Africa from the point of view of a lovable hippo called Hugo who cannot understand why the local farmers object when he invades their rice fields. The author begins by explaining how this hippo got his name and the origin of the hippo’s family life. However, this rare species to live in salt water of Indian Ocean had some friends such as the birds and the ocean fish whom we encounter in the dialogue. Furthermore, we see leaders from different institutions who came up generously in support of the scouts’ unique spirit to save the hippo. For instance, the local and foreign media gave a wide publicity to this event. Although Hugo the Hippo died couple of years ago, his history is equally relevant today, taking in consideration the importance of wildlife in Tanzania under the auspicious of TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks).
The story has smoothly interwoven a direct quotation from President Julius Kambarage Nyerere’s important Arusha Manifesto on the conservation of wildlife in Africa that he delivered in September, 1961:
The survival of our wildlife is a matter of grave concern to all of us in Africa. These wild creatures amid the wild places they inhabit are not only important s a source of wonder and inspiration, but are an integral part of our natural resources and our future livelihood and well being. In accepting the trusteeship of our wildlife we solemnly declare that we will do everything in our power to make sure that our children’s grandchildren will be able to enjoy this rich and precious inheritance. The conservation of wildlife and wild places calls for specialist knowledge, trained manpower and money, and we look to other nations to cooperate in this important task…the success or failure of which not only effects the continent of Africa but the rest of the world as well (pp. 23-24).
The story is told in combination of narrative and dialogue. The later is practically suitable for the reading aloud in class, and gives plenty of practice in the contracted forms that are so much a part of spoken English. The book is a very useful supplementary reader for those who learn and teach English as a second language. The author has written many children’s books in Swahili. Some few basic questions at the end of the story can be very useful for the readers to remind themselves of what they have read.
©J.
P. Mbonde P.O. Box 3479, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Email: jopahanya@yahoo.com
8. Book Review of Once Upon a Time in Africa: Stories
of Wisdom and Joy
Complied by Joseph G. Healey.
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2004.
Paperback, 144 pages.
Price: $15.
Listen
to the interview with Joseph Healey, the author of the new book Once
Upon a Time in Africa: Stories of Wisdom and Joy
Reviewed by Joseph Kariuki
Oral literature researchers and scholars agree that stories encapsulate values, attitudes, and worldview of the people who create them. They are the reservoirs of all the elements of peoples’ cultural, religious and philosophical beliefs. In the African context, nothing captures this better than the oral culture especially through the art of storytelling that has punctuated the continent’s inhabitants since time immemorial to the present times. Through stories African people’s fears, joys, hopes and aspirations are registered. It is for this reason that the relevance of collecting and documenting stories and other oral literature materials is important as this highlights important watersheds in the history and life in Africa. In Once Upon a Time in Africa Joseph Healey has attempted to do exactly that -- document the oral culture in stories for the benefit of all to read.
This book brings together eighty-six (86) stories that range from myths of creation, folktales, parables, poems, and true stories. Structurally, the book contains an “Overall Introduction,” a brief introduction to each section, the stories themselves, and a listing of stories at the back to facilitate easy referencing.
The main body of stories is divided into eights thematic categories as follows: “In the Beginning” (pp.1-10), “Life” (pp.11-32), “Family” (pp. 33-48), “Community” (pp. 49-60), “Good and Bad Times” (pp. 61-84), “Joy and Celebration” (pp. 85-94), “Cultural Matters” (pp. 95-104), and “Seeds of God in Africa Soil” (pp.109-130). Before each section of the eight categories, there is a one-page introduction that orients the reader’s mind on what kind themes covered in the stories to expect in that particular section. For example, in the fourth section or category of stories entitled “Community”, Healey renders the traditional African concept of community and its contemporary relevance especially as it related to the church where Small Christian Communities epitomize the present African community ideals. These introductions whet the appetite of the reader as (s)he prepares to read the stories.
Another aspect that reinforces the beauty of the presentation of the stories is the inclusion of an African proverb at the beginning of each of these sections that aptly corresponds with the themes presented in the sections. Hence in the second section entitled “Life” for instance, the introducing proverb is “Life is the best gift; the rest is extra” (Swahili proverb from Eastern and Central Africa, p.11) and in the last section entitled “Seeds of God in African Soil”, the corresponding proverb is “God is a great eye who sees everything in the world” (Arabic proverb from Egypt, Eritrea, and Sudan, p.109). The African aesthetic values are further captured by the graphics and artwork in the book that highlights the African physical, cultural and spiritual environment. In the book this is done through nineteen (19) artistic impressions of the various thematic categories.
The greatest strength of Once Upon a Time in Africa is the blending together of different aspects of African situation into a single book volume through stories. From African spirituality—Nothing Materially but Everything Spiritually (p. 48), God Was Truly There with Us…Listening (p. 77), The Person Who Couldn’t Find God (p.112), etc; to modern challenges facing life in Africa like war and AIDS –The Merciful Rwandan Woman (p. 63), Otherwise This War Will Never End (p. 66), We Need to Run Out and Meet Lucia, (pp. 67-68) to interreligious dialogue—The Muslim Prayer Connection (p.117), God is Like a Large Baobab Tree (p.127), etc; to celebration of life as it is presently— Your Mother Wants to Greet You (p. 47), Why I Can Sing (p. 89), etc. In other words, the stories in this book are anecdotes of life as is lived in Africa in its wholeness and an expression of the aspirations of their authors in ameliorating their circumstances. In this regard it is also important to note that they are collected from all the corners of the continent of Africa thus enabling one to claim they represent the ideals and aspirations of all people of Africa.
On a more general level, the rendering of the title of the book -- Once Upon a Time in Africa: Stories of Wisdom and Joy -- points to the difficulty authors face in selecting titles to their works vis a vis their readers’ feelings. The first impression one gets from the title of the book in picking up the book is like one will be reading stories about the traditional African past -- an aspect only captured in a few stories mostly in the first section, “In the Beginning.” However, this is not the case as the book contains many stories tackling modern problems facing Africa. The prior impression is nonetheless assuaged by the way the stories are structured and the introductions to each section which makes them “stories of wisdom and joy” and this provides the major credit to Joseph Healey in conceiving the lovely book.
In sum, one can safely say that Once Upon a Time in Africa is must reading to any one who appreciates things Africa and interesting and well told stories.
The complier of the stories, Father Joseph G. Healey, M.M. is a Maryknoll priest who has worked in East Africa since 1968. His other books closely covering similar themes include A Fifth Gospel: The Experience of Black Christian Values (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books and London: SCM Press, 1981); Kuishi lnjili -- Living the Gospel (Peramiho: Benedictine Publications, 1982); Kueneza Injili Kwa Methali -- Preaching the Gospel Through Proverbs (Peramiho: Benedictine Publications, 1984); What Language Does God Speak: African Stories About Christmas and Easter (Nairobi: St. Paul Publications, 1989); and Towards An African Narrative Theology (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 5th Printing 2004 and Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 3rd Reprint, 2000). He is also the moderator of the African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website: www.afriprov.org
Joseph Kariuki is the Assistant Moderator of the African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website and lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Email: kariukiprov@yahoo.co.uk
To order this book go to the
Maryknoll Mall at: http://www.maryknollmall.org/description.cfm?ISBN=1-57075-527-2
9. Book Review of Sharing Boundaries: Learning the
Wisdom of Africa
by Annetta Miller
The author is an American citizen who was born and grew up in Tanzania. She has
spent nearly 50 years in East Africa and has lived in Nairobi since 1974.
This booklet contains 50 of her best vignettes each matched with an African
proverb. Through the use of African proverbs, Annetta Miller relates her
experiences in Africa detailing her interpretation of the beauty, richness and
diversity of African culture while making comparisons with that of Western
culture.
Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa, 2003.
ISBN 9966-21-899-8. Pages:111. Size: 14.5 x 21cm. Price: US
$8.00.
Website: http://www.paulinesafrica.org
Available from Paulines
Publications Africa directly from: distribution@paulinesafrica.org
or in Catholic Bookshops in East Africa.
10. Book Review of What African Myths Tell
Printed by Peramiho: Peramiho Printing Press, 2/2OO2.
12 pages
Reviewed by John P. Mbonde
How was it at the beginning?
Father John Henschel C.S.Sp. of Bagamoyo Parish, Tanzania is the author of this
booklet. Undoubtedly his inspiration derives from the fact that he [from
Germany] has lived for years at a famous historical place, Bagamoyo, where the
first Catholic missionaries set foot in Tanzania mainland to proclaim the
Gospel. On the other side Bagamoyo is a famous slave trading centre and also
the place where the remains of Dr David Livingstone were kept for some time
before being sent abroad fore burial. "Since time immemorial men found
answers in a unique style, in the style of narrated stories, narrated in
myths…A myth is a story told in a special way which originates in prehistorical
time…The myths elucidate that even the first men, millenniums and millenniums
ago, were able to see not only the nature around them. They had the ability to
understand what is behind the foreground, to understand profound realities. As
the last profound reality they recognized God" (p. 9).
In everyday life, each one of us has three main important questions:
WHAT—WHEN--WHY. Myths are basically memories of the past. Africa tells
thousands of such old myths. This book, "What African Myths Tell"
with its subtitle "How was it at the beginning?" discusses seven
myths selected from six different African ethnic groups (nations) who live
thousands of kilometres away from one another, but tell the same myths.
The booklet consists of three chapters. In Chapter I there are four myths about
the close connection between God and humankind: God is called "Unkulukulu"
in South Africa, ‘How Amazulu came to life’; "Engai" among Maasai in
Tanzania, ‘Why Engai’s rope was cut?’; "Shapanga/Chapanga" among the
Ngoni in Tanzania, ‘Shapanga left the village’; Ntara-Nti in Cameroon,
‘Ntara-Nti left the village’. In addition to these four myths, there are three
other myths telling about heroes of the old days: Litaolane saved humankind;
Masala Kulangwa killed the monster Shing’weng’we; and the two sons of Ndabe.
Chapter II concentrates on answering the question why all these
six African ethnic groups (nations) tell the same myths? Accordingly the
author gives some interpretation of these old myths: their similarities, self
identification and realization, originality, etc.
Chapter III shows how such old myths can be used for a narrative African
Christian theology of today. Henschel also makes some biblical parallels with
the given myths. "Myths are an ancient heritage, but they can be used to
express modern viewpoints as well, even in the Christian proclamation of the
Gospel…Myths go back into the old time. To prove it we can take the Christian Bible.
The first book Genesis brings in the first chapters two old narrations
about the creation of the world, of the cosmos, of nature and of Adam and Eve
narrated in the style of myths" (p. 11).
This booklet What African Myths Tell gives a big challenge not only to
teachers and preachers, but also to researchers in this era of globalization.
John P. Mbonde is a retired Tanzanian civil servant, journalist, and author of
books, book reviewer and analyst of African oral literature. He has travelled
all over the world on academic and study tours.
Mr. John P. Mbonde
P. O. Box 3479
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
E-Mail: jopahanya@yahoo.com
11. Catfish and Toad
by P.E. Adotey Addo
ISBN 1-931348-06-5
Fifi and Toad
are the best of friends and their home in the lake is a happy one. But when
Fifi the Catfish decides it's time to see the world, who is Toad to argue?
Funny and sweet, this is a story for best friends everywhere.
Author Peter E.
Adotey Addo has created an enduring tale of friendship using all the warmth,
humor and adventure found in the best of story telling traditions. Fully
illustrated, it is sure to please readers of all ages.
Rev. Peter E.
Adotey Addo is a Ghanian Protestant minister presently living in the U.S.A. who
has written many books on African culture.
This electronic
book (e-book) Catfish and Toad is available for $3.95.
For more
information contact:
Rev.
Peter E. Adotey Addo E-mail: addox@attglobal.net
12.
Book Review of Under One Roof: Gikuyu Proverbs
Consolidated
By Gerald Joseph Wanjohi
Nairobi, Kenya:
Paulines Publications Africa, 2001.
Paperback, 238 pages.
Price: $8.
Reviewed by
Joseph G. Healey
This new synthesized, comprehensive collection of 1821 Gikuyu (Kenya) Proverbs
draws from various sources mainly:
1,000 Kikuyu Proverbs by
G. Barra.
Gikuyu Proverbs by Ngumbu Njururi.
Kikuyu-English Dictionary by T.G. Benson.
Ng’ano na Thimo Cia Ugikuyu by Stanley Kiama Gathigira.
Through the use of certain devices, it was possible to reduce the 2411 proverbs
in these four collections to 1527 proverbs. An announcement on the national
radio in Kenya produced 168 additional proverbs. Other proverbs were found in
Gikuyu literature: books, newspapers and magazines.
By bringing all the known Gikuyu proverbs "under one roof" or one
umbrella Wanjohi facilitates research and reference, exercises that have been
tedious and time consuming due to scattered sources. The book gives the literal
translation in English of each Gikuyu proverb in order to enhance its symbolic
power and applicability, but at the same time safeguards brevity, a
characteristic of proverbs. Bearing in mind that this is an age of gender
sensitivity, inclusive language is used wherever possible. Proverbs are cited
in the current Gikuyu orthography although the critical marks are not used in
this book review. The book contains 13 illustrations.
After Swahili Gikuyu is the African language spoken by the most people in East
Africa and is considered one of the major languages on the continent of Africa.
Despite very different research statistics and estimates it is reliable to say
that seven million people in East Africa speak Gikuyu. The Fourteenth Edition
of the Ethnologue edited by Barbara Grimes (SIL International, 2000) states the
following on the Gikuyu language in Kenya:
5,347,000
(1994 I. Larsen BTL) or 19.8% of the population (1987). West central Kenya, in
Kiambu, Murang'a, Nyeri, and Kirinyaga districts, Central Province. Linguistic
affiliation: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid,
Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, E, Kikuyu-Kamba (E20). Dialects: SOUTHERN
GIKUYU (KIAMBU, SOUTHERN MURANG'A), NDIA (SOUTHERN kIRINYAGA), GICHUGU
(NORTHERN kIRINYAGA), MATHIRA (KARATINA), NORTHERN GIKUYU (NORTHERN MURANG'A,
NYERI). 73% lexical similarity with Embu, 70% with Chuka, 67% with Kamba, 63%
with Meru. Bilingualism in Swahili, English.
A content analysis of this collection of 1821 Gikuyu Proverbs reveals the
following information and insights. Proverbs are cited in 18 letters of the
Gikuyu alphabet including:
544 proverbs
beginning with M.
264 proverbs beginning with N.
216 proverbs beginning with K.
174 proverbs beginning with G.
138 proverbs beginning with Ũ.
The 22-page "Index" indicates that the following words appear most
frequently in Gikuyu Proverbs:
mundu
(person): 8 lines of citations.
mwana (child): 5 lines of citations.
arume (men): 4 lines of citations.
mwene (owner): 4 lines of citations.
ngoro (heart): 4 lines of citations.
nyina (mother): 4 lines of citations.
This pattern of
important person-related words in proverbs is common in African languages in
sub-Sahara Africa.
Certain important African values are emphasized in the following clusters of
Gikuyu proverbs:
Cooperation:
One finger does not kill
a louse.
A small organized group of people is capable of lifting a mortar.
A group of men should not be passed over.
The voice of the people is like that of God.
Family:
The wealth of the poor
consists in having children.
Love for one’s child is greater than love for one’s life.
To praise the child is to praise the mother.
A leopard’s cub scratches like its mother.
A parent has no temper.
A child does not belong to only one parent.
Every man’s brother is his heart.
An animal will suckle even its deformed young.
Moving
Out/Mission Spirit:
Staying in one place
begets lice.
Traveling is learning.
Traveling opens one’s eyes.
Traveling is seeing.
A person who does not travel says that only his mother knows how to cook well.
Person-centered:
People are wealth.
People who love one another do not dwell on each other’s mistakes.
One’s lover’s place is never too far away.
It is only mountains that do not meet.
Wisdom:
The advice of the old is
never overlooked.
A wise person learns though other people’s mistakes.
We speak in proverbs; he who is intelligent will understand.
Two waterfalls do not hear each other (said about two people loudly arguing
with each other).
There are certain Gikuyu proverbs that are found in other world languages and
reflect universal values:
Charity begins at home.
A long journey/trip begins with one step.
The bird that wakes up early eats the best worm.
Prevention is better than cure.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Under One Roof: Gikuyu Proverbs Consolidated clearly shows that African
proverbs are relevant to today’s world. Some examples with themes:
Availability and
preparedness: The water that is not at hand does not quench the thirst.
Death:
Death’s thirst is never quenched.
Evil of war and fighting: War is not porridge.
Humility
and hiddenness: A little, contemptible path is sometimes the one that leads you
to the highway.
Spiritual
values: A religious person is never overcome.
Wanjohi had made a major contribution to African proverbs scholarship by
compiling this collection of all known Gikuyu Proverbs. His work challenges other
scholars to make similar collections in other major African languages. These
ongoing contributions to African oral literature are echoed in the Gikuyu
proverb: A river is enlarged by its tributaries. Wanjohi is commended for
wanting to continue to collect more proverbs in order to reach and surpass the
2000 mark: both traditional proverbs that have not been recorded in a printed
version and new proverbs that have been coined recently but have not been
recorded in a printed version. The ongoing collection of contemporary Gikuyu
Proverbs will proverbs insights into changing cultural and linguistic patterns
and influences in Africa. It is hoped that the next printing will correct the
misspellings and typographical errors in this 2001 Edition. Also an extensive
bibliography including booklets and articles on Gikuyu Proverbs would be
useful. In a future edition when Wanjohi reaches 2000 Gikuyu Proverbs, a
detailed "Subject Index" in English would be valuable to scholars and
ordinary readers alike. This would be similar to Ferdinand Walser's Luganda
Proverbs (Kampala: Mill Hill Missionaries, 1984) from Uganda.
The compiler and editor, Dr. Gerard Joseph Wanjohi (E-mail: wakuraya@alphanet.co.ke), taught
philosophy in the Faculties of Arts and Education of the University of Nairobi,
Kenya where he also served as chairman of the Department of Philosophy. He
retired from active teaching in 1993. In 1997 he published The Wisdom and
Philosophy of African Proverbs: The Gikuyu World-View (Nairobi: Paulines
Publications Africa, 1st Reprint, 2001). Since 1985 he has published
the quarterly: Wajibu, A Journal of Social and Religious Concern.
The publication of this new collection is in conjunction with the ongoing
African Proverbs Project (APP). Some of the Gikuyu Proverbs in the book Under
One Roof: Gikuyu Proverbs Consolidated can be found on the African Proverbs,
Sayings and Stories Website (www.afriprov.org)
and in the African Proverbs CD ROM produced by Global Mapping International
(GMI). Paulines Publications Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya is commended for
its commitment to publishing books on African oral literature and culture and
promoting the importance of inculturation and contextualization.
Joseph G. Healey, M.M. has worked
in East Africa since 1968. Presently he is the Coordinator of the Mission
Awareness Committee of the Religious Superiors' Association of Tanzania based
in Dar es Salaam. He is co-author of Towards An African Narrative Theology
(Paulines Publications Africa, 3rd Reprint, 2000 and Orbis, 3rd
Printing, 2001). E-mail: JGHealey@aol.com
13.
Book Review of Proverbi Samburu -- Samburu Sayings
By Achille
Da Ros, Virgilo Pante and Egidio Pedenzini
Published by EMI (Editrice Missionaria Italiana),
Bologna, 2000
ISBN 88-307-0907-7
304 pages
Price 700/=
Kenyan Shillings (or $9)
Available at the Catholic Bookshop, Nairobi, Kenya and at the Office of The
Seed Magazine, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya
Reviewed by
Paolo Tablino, IMC
There are three reasons why this book of 300 pages, written by three
authors and in three languages (Samburu, English and Italian), is really worth
to be read. The first reason is the unquestionable competence of the authors.
All of them are academic graduates, all of them know the Samburu language, all
of them have not just lived in the area as tourists or as researchers, but (a
condition essential, in my opinion, to really understand an African culture)
all of them have spent many years among, and for, the Samburu people. Pedenzini
has been among them thirty years, save the few ones spent in America where he
went to continue his studies on the Samburu and prepared his remarkable M.A.
thesis on their religious concepts. He is still there, in the remote mission of
South Horr, at the very foot of the sacred mountain of the Samburu, Mt. Nyiro.
Da Ros, who possesses a wide background of general culture and of ethnographic
knowledge, has written various books and articles on anthropological matters
including a short but excellent volume on the Turkana (Bologna, 1994). For many
years he has been in Samburu district and, after having lately spent some years
at the Ethnographic Museum of the Consolata Missionary Institute in Turin, he
is for many years a dedicated missionary in the area and still now a missionary
in another part of Kenya. He knows the people, the land, particularly its
fauna, and the language of the Samburu people as very few Europeans do, and has
traveled in every corner of the Samburu country including the top of quite a
number of its numerous mountains.
The second reason why this book deserves its reading is its intrinsic value.
Actually it is a remarkably large collection of proverbs and sayings where
nearly all the aspects of Samburu culture and life are expressed in terms
directly collected from the mouth of the elders by Pedenzini in various parts
of the district. The proverbs listed are 803 and deal with innumerable aspects
of the human life from the idea of God to the relations among people, from
animals to water, trees and rain. Each one of the proverbs or sayings is given
a number. It is written in the original Samburu text (bold characters), which
is immediately followed by an accurate English and Italian translation (both in
italics). To each proverb a clear explanation is added, at times short, at
times longer, with quite a number of traditional stories, which give a fuller
picture of the Samburu culture. Da Ros and Pante have given their competent and
accurate co-operation in this work of translation and explanation and,
according to what it is written in the "Foreword," some catechists
and other Samburu people have also helped.
The third reason, which makes the book not only interesting, but also easy to
be consulted and read, is the arrangement of the indices (both in Italian and
English). There are two kinds of indices, distinct but connected. The first
index is indicated in the book as "a summary of the main topics." It
is a list of 16 general titles (for instance, animals, the human body, human
qualities, food, etc.) under which a group of words are alphabetically grouped
(for instance, under the general topic "Animals" 45 names of animals
are indicated). The same words mentioned in the summary of topics are listed,
one by one, in the second index (simply called "Index" in the book),
which contains in alphabetical order all the words with the indication of the
numbers of each proverb related to the words. In this way if anybody wants to
know the proverbs related to lion, the person has just to look the word 'lion'
in the complete and accurate index. This is the work (a remarkable work indeed!),
of another missionary, Gigi Anatoloni, who though he remained only few years in
Samburu territory has kept at least a part of his heart there. He has patiently
done by computer an admirable editing work thus greatly facilitating the use of
this book for both to the scholar and the ordinary reader.
A map of Kenya and a simple but clear introduction, just indicated as the work
of "J. Q." wisely added at the beginning of the work, give a final
touch of perfection to this fine book. Sincere thanks and warm congratulations
to the four missionaries both for their work and their co-operation which has
produced such good result showing once again that it is true what the Samburu
proverb No. 246 in this collection says (a proverb which is also found among
the Kikuyu and other African cultures): Mear ikimojino obo lacheiyo (One finger
alone cannot kill a louse).
For further information contact:
Rev. Gigi
Anataloni, IMC
E-mail: theseed-mag@wananchi.com
14. Talking Drums
By Rev. Peter E. Adotey Addo
TALKING DRUMS is a masterful collection of poetry by the Ghanaian
Poet and Story Writer Peter Addo which tells the significant stories of the
past half-century through lyrical, touching, and powerful verse. It is a
collection every reflective person should read.
TALKING DRUMS. Poetry.
Paperback. 64 pages. $8.00.
Published 1 December, 1999.
ISBN: 0805944788.
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Pitttsburgh, PA
Available online at: Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com
Amazon.com Price: $8.00
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours* To view this item click here.
price and availability are subject to change.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931069034/qid=984326359/sr=1-1/ref=sc_b_1/104-5985665-5146355
15. Remembering the Home Spirits
By Rev. Peter
E. Adotey Addo
REMEMBERING THE HOME SPIRITS is a lively collection of Rev. Addo's boyhood
experiences in Ghana, West Africa, African tales, stories of hope and freedom,
and even a short play to give the reader a taste of freedom lost.
REMEMBERING THE HOME SPIRITS: A Journey Back To Africa. Stories. CD-ROM .
54 pages. $12.00.
Published 1 June, 2000.
ISBN: 1931069034.
Publisher: Electric Bookworm Publishers
Chicago, Ill
Available online at : Amazon.com
Amazon.com Price: $12.00 *
Availability: Special Order* To view this item click here.
*price and availability are subject to change.
NOTE: This is also available in E-book Format (as an e-book of true
stories). 50 pages. Rich Text. HTML. Pocket E-book. $6.00. Released
1 April, 2000.
Available at: Electric Bookworm
Chicago, Ill
http://electric-bookworm.bigstep.com/category.html?UCIDs=723322
Rev P E Adotey Addo
P. O. BOX 13356
GREENSBORO NC 27415 USA
FAX: 336-375- 0068
E-mail: addox@attglobal.net
- Book Review of Footprints of God
NOTE: One type of inculturation theology is an African narrative theology of inculturation. The starting part is African culture, but specifically African oral literature and the wide range of narrative and oral forms: proverbs, sayings, riddles, stories, myths, plays and songs explained in their historical and cultural contexts. Thus the following book on a narrative theology of mission is related to the subjects, themes and concerns of this African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website.
Footprints of God: A Narrative Theology of Mission
Edited by Charles Van Engen, Nancy Thomas and Robert Gallagher
Monrovia, CA.: MARC/World Vision
1999, x, 235 pp., paper, $21.95
Reviewed by Joseph G. Healey
One of the three editors states: "Narrative theology is one of the most exciting development in Western theology in the last several decades, yet it has not often been considered in the domain of missiology" (225). To correct this perception a group of doctoral students at Fuller Theological Seminary approached mission theology "narratively" integrating personal, community, cultural and biblical stories. An evangelical narrative missiology holds the canonical story (the Bible) as normative letting the stories of Scripture interweave with the stories of culture and the stories of mission.
The 18 chapters (essays) are set within a theological framework created by Charles Van Engen:
* Six chapters stress that mission must be "of the way" (Christ-centered).
* Six chapters stress that mission must be "in the way" (happening among the peoples and cultures of the world).
* Six chapters
stress that mission must be "on the way" (moving forward over time
through God's people as they anticipate Christ's present and coming kingdom).
In using biography some of the writers are impacted by the life and writings of people as diverse as Karl Barth, Ernesto Cardinal, E. Stanley Jones, Charles Kraft, Jürgen Moltmann, Mother Teresa and Max Warren. Nancy Thomas is deeply moved by Cardenal the writer stating: "Better than any systematic theology could have done, his very Latin America [theo-] poetry cries out with the pain of the people and, at the same time, shows the footprints of God in the midst of the rubble" (89-90).
In using autobiography some of the writers focus on personal pilgrimage (how it impacts the person himself or herself) or personal experiences that lead to a deeper reflection on ministry. In his essay "Who Raises the Child When There is No Village: Restoring Community in African Cities," (124-135) Stanley Mutunga narrates an encounter with a street boy in Nairobi, Kenya. This leads to a missiological reflection on community and connectedness in Africa's growing cities and the importance of encouraging subculture churches.
The essays touch on a wide variety of topics connected to a narrative theology
of mission: Christian Feminism, Conversion, Ethnotheology, Holy Spirit, Hope,
Internet, Pluralism, Preaching and Suffering. In her essay Jude Tiersma Watson
states: "Another lesson from Mother Teresa concerns the place of suffering
in this world, and in the lives of missionaries. Evangelical missiology does
not often address this topic, but it must be considered in a world of Rwanda,
Bosnia and the violence in our cities" (121).
In her "Conclusion" Nancy Thomas states: "The categories of a narrative missiology include…the traditional myths, legends and other folktales that interweave in the background of the cultures of the world" (226). Later she says: "Agents of mission, first of all, must be listeners to story. Every culture has its stories, as does every person. We need to listen missiologically to the myths of a people, as well as to the proverbs, animal tales and other legends that give clues to their values, longings, and heritage" (229). The "Notes" and "References" of the book list a number of books on African narrative theology.
This challenging book on a biblical theology of mission breaks new ground in its narrative and story style. It is important for theological students as well as missionaries in the field. It heralds a new and creative methodology especially valid for emerging Third World theologies. The primacy of scripture in narrative theologizing raises interesting questions ecumenical dialogue. I found the division of six essays in each section a bit forced.
Joseph G. Healey, M.M. has been in East Africa since 1968. Presently he is the Chairperson of the Mission Awareness Committee of the Religious Superiors' Association of Tanzania based in Dar es Salaam. He is co-author of Towards An African Narrative Theology (Paulines Publications Africa, 1996 and Orbis, 1997).
- Book Review of Oral Literature of the Sukuma
by Immaculate Mirambo
Published by the Sisters of Our Lady Queen of the
Apostles of Mbeya
Printed by the Peramiho Printing Press, 1999
59 pages
Price: 900/= Tanzanian Shillings (or $1.15)
Reviewed by John P. Mbonde
A Sukuma Looks at Her Own Oral Literature
The author is Sister Immaculate Mirambo, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady Queen of the Apostles of Mbeya. She has a BA degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. She is presently the Head of English Department at Loleza Girls' Secondary School in Mbeya.
She has made extensive research on Sukuma oral literature. She interprets it for the good of the Sukuma community and the world at large in matters concerning education, history, philosophy and beliefs, etc.
This book, Oral Literature of the Sukuma, has four main chapters. It covers the historical background of the Sukuma people who form 20% (or 6 million) of the total population of Tanzania which is 30 million; it discusses briefly the social, political and economic organization of the Sukuma people; analyzes the general characteristics of the oral literature of Sukuma; and finally explains the general functions of oral literature in the Sukuma community. Hence her investigations in the Sukuma proverbs, riddles, stories, poems, myths, songs, prayers, dances, puns, etc. She states: "Oral literature in Sukumaland can be seen to serve the purpose such as to inculcate positive values, warn, soothe, entertain, praise and encourage members of society. This literature can never be seen as art for art's sake. It always has a direct association to the society that composes and performs it" (page 56).
The author cites a lot of examples of what embodies this Sukuma oral literature in the typical indigenous language of the people and provides equally adequate translations. Two examples are:
- Chumu na ndugu gembe ati sanya mino (Brotherhood is brotherhood, even if there is some misunderstanding, one day they will agree each other). Meaning: It is a warning to those who involve themselves in family wrangles; when the family members reconcile they can turn against them.
2. Lulimi lukabejaga kaya (A tongue builds a village). Meaning: To have a good account among the people is a treasure because many people will love and associate with us.
Mirambo makes full use of other scholarly works on the Sukuma people with a bibliography at the end. She also makes a comparison with other oral literature in the Swahili language.
As Sukuma oral literature is so rich, these few pages are just the tip of the iceberg. What is particularly encouraging is that Immaculate Mirambo is a Sukuma writing about the oral literature of her own ethnic group. The book offers a challenge to other scholars, particularly of Sukuma origin, to go deeper in doing cultural research now or never.
John P. Mbonde is a retired Tanzanian civil servant, journalist, author of books, book reviewer and analyst of African oral literature. He has traveled all over the world on academic and study tours.
Mr. John P. Mbonde
P.O. Box 3479
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Announcement of a forthcoming book:
Under One Roof: A New Collection of Gikuyu Proverbs
Compiled and edited by Gerald. J. Wanjohi
The ongoing African Proverbs Project assists various research projects. It has now helped to bring together Gikuyu (Kenya) proverbs found in different collections. Through the use of certain devices, it was possible to reduce 2411 proverbs to 1527 proverbs. This should prove helpful to those trying to learn Gikuyu proverbs as well as to those engaged in research and writing. This is the first phase of the research. Paulines Publications Africa is publishing this "New Collection."
The second phase of the project consists in appealing to the Gikuyu population to supply new proverbs. It is hoped that many proverbs will be collected. It is hoped that Paulines Publications Africa will also publish the results of this second phase of the research.
Dr. Gerald. J. Wanjohi
Nairobi, Kenya
CDs Page" under "Resources".
Reviewed by Peter L. Kimilike
This valuable
multidisciplinary research tool is a recent contribution by the Global Mapping
International and African Proverbs Project. With regard to biblical studies it
comes just in time. Today's new openness, methodologically speaking, for tools
and material provided by the social sciences, makes this a most interesting
contribution.
What we have here is a modern technology, multipurpose electronic research device with enormous efficiency and capacity. Its foremost advantage is that it makes available over 28,000 African proverbs from numerous published and unpublished African primary sources. This fact greatly reduces the time and financial costs incurred in field research. In addition, it has a wider ethnological scope and geographical coverage of over 1,200 languages from Africa south of the Sahara. For instance, to mention just a few, there are proverbs collections from the Akan, Ewe, Grebo, Jabo (West Africa); Lugbara, Kaonde, Mongo-Nkundu, Bore, Lobi (Central Africa); Oromo (Horn of Africa); Swahili, Sukuma, Luganda (East Africa); Tswana, Sesotho (South Africa). The latter point is even much more important in enhancing a balanced representation of the African proverbial material. It is possible now for a study to make general assertions over a variety of themes in an African contextual proverbial study. In the past it was difficult to do the same because many of those collections had been made in isolation.
Another major difficulty in a comparative study has been the lack of African cultural contexts for the validation of African proverbial sources. Many scholars had taken to atomistic treatment of proverbs. The preceding problem posed it difficult to establish a proper performance context necessary to their understanding. The result was a violation of the anthropological methodology which obviously affects the final theses. In addition to the continued predominant lack of material to provide for a coherent study of the complex, short, pithy and mnemonic sayings has been the greatest hindrance and a cause of the stagnation in their study. Many interested scholars had abandoned their study. This fact is true even on the studies of the Old Testament Book of Proverbs which has a lower number of comprehensive scholarship when compared to other books of the Bible.
The African Proverbs CD-ROM has advanced a step further towards alleviating the preceding problem. First, by the provision of an update of studies, reference books, maps and abstracts or booknotes on the subject. Second, the provision of an updated bibliography of African proverbs collections. This includes a few reprints of books and a major part presented in key pages, i.e. the title page, the content, the introduction, a page or two of the text and the bibliography. And third, the provided translations, explanations, illustrations and indices to the proverbs. These together are by all means a great help to the research. The facility is enough to enable the researcher recognize, appreciate and evaluate the themes and patterns of proverbs one deals with at a click of the fingertip. The main challenge now lies in the non-availability of modern technological electronic research facilities in African theological institutions. In such a case the instrument stands a chance of being a motivating force for the improvement in the research systems necessary among the African institutions. The benefits of which will be a maximum exploit of the treasure invested in such a marvelous device at a very economical price.
NOTE: This review was originally published in Issue 6 (May, 1999) of the Newsletter
on African Old Testament Scholarship.
Peter L. Kimilike (from
Tanzania) is doing M.Phil. research on African and Old Testament proverbs in
Stavanger, Norway. His address is School of Mission and Theology, Misjonsveien
34, N-4024 Stavanger, Norway; e-mail: pelki@stud.misjonshs.no
- Book Review of Towards An African Narrative Theology
by Joseph G. Healey and Donald F. Sybertz
Maryknoll, NY,