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With the conquest of East African peoples by Germany in Tanganyika and by the British in Kenya, the realities of colonial politics led to further secularization and, along with it, indigenization of thematic material in utenzi poetry. Utenzi wa…

Miscellaneous Verses of Muyaka

Scrapbook of Hank Maloy drawings.

The nineteenth century saw the rise of a written poetic tradition that moved toward the secular, with everyday issues of social and political interest captured in verse. Perhaps the most notable poet whose works exemplified this trend was Muyaka wa…

Utendi wa kutawafu Nabii, a characteristic example of the utenzi tradition in its early expression, commemorates the life of the prophet and includes his final message to the faithful before being visited by the angel of death. The poem exemplifies…