Utenzi wa vita vya uhuru, 1939 hata 1945 [Poem of the war of freedom, 1939 to 1945]

Utenzi wa vita vya uhuru, 1939 hata 1945 [Poem of the war of freedom, 1939 to 1945]

Utenzi wa vita vya uhuru, composed by the noted and prolific Tanzanian author, Shaaban Robert, is possibly the longest utenzi poem ever written. In 3,000 stanzas, Robert recounts the events of World War II from the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939 to the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945. The entire war is summarized, with inclusion of important battles and events of the struggle. The poem is important for its presentation of the African perspective on the war and its depiction of the role of African troops in various arenas of wartime activity. So far as is known, it is the first of the utenzi poems to relate events occurring outside the East African sphere of events.

Call Number: PL8704.R54 U84 1967

Robert, Shaaban

Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Swahili, English