Sonic figures of heroism and the 1891 Hehe–German war in Mulokozi’s novel Ngome ya Mianzi

What is it about?

Shortly after the 1884–85 Berlin Conference, Germany invaded and fought a number of wars with Tanganyika’s local chiefdoms in order to subject these territories to its colonial rule. In 1891 the Hehe people, who dwelt in Iringa region in the southern part of today’s Tanzania, fought to resist the invading German troops and succeeded in killing the German commander, Emil von Zelewski. Using both fictional and historical persons, events and locations, a 1991 Kiswahili novel by Tanzanian writer Mugyabuso Mulokozi, Ngome ya Mianzi (Bamboo Fortress), retells the story of the first battle between the German troops and the Hehe, fought at Lugalo. This article examines the ways this novel uses musical figures, including songs, dances, sounds of musical instruments and sounds of birds and insects as semiotic resources to narrate the story, create its characters and shape various events.

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Why is it important?

Shortly after the 1884–85 Berlin Conference, Germany invaded and fought a number of wars with Tanganyika’s local chiefdoms in order to subject these territories to its colonial rule. In 1891 the Hehe people, who dwelt in Iringa region in the southern part of today’s Tanzania, fought to resist the invading German troops and succeeded in killing the German commander, Emil von Zelewski. Using both fictional and historical persons, events and locations, a 1991 Kiswahili novel by Tanzanian writer Mugyabuso Mulokozi, Ngome ya Mianzi (Bamboo Fortress), retells the story of the first battle between the German troops and the Hehe, fought at Lugalo. This article examines the ways this novel uses musical figures, including songs, dances, sounds of musical instruments and sounds of birds and insects as semiotic resources to narrate the story, create its characters and shape various events.

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