Angry young Kenyan writers give Africa a new voice

NAIROBI – A sturdy blonde woman walks up to her drummer boyfriend in a Mombasa nightclub. With barely a word she hauls the slender fellow off his bandstand and back to her home, cementing an obsessional interracial relationship.

An aristocratic African banker fleeing genocide in the Great Lakes gets an early lesson in powerlessness as a refugee in Nairobi: a policeman robs him of money, wallet and signet ring — emblems of his vanished existence of comfort and prestige. These glimpses of life in Kenya come from ‘Kwani?’, a racy, argumentative literary journal that is delighting east African readers and helping to redefine the country’s cultural identity.Kenya’s only literary magazine, ‘Kwani?’ is part of a wider cultural revival giving the country a more assertive artistic presence in Africa, one often shaped by anger at a venal ruling elite that has presided over the country’s long decline.At the heart of much of the new writing is the conviction that the country has barely begun to realise the promise of its independence from Britain in 1963, betrayed by the failures of a complacent over-40 generation mired in tribalism and corruption.”To be Kenyan is to cling to these borders as if we would have been worse off if we had been Uganda or Tanzania or both,” rails one character in a story by ‘Kwani?’ writer Andia Kisia.”Kenya is the place between prosperity and destitution, not a good place, granted, but one from where we can appreciate how things could be infinitely worse,” he adds sarcastically.Identity and ethnicity are common themes in ‘Kwani?’s’ diverse stories and poems about refugees, corruption, the clannish ways of white Kenya and interracial relationships.Its 290 pages also contain a photographic cartoon strip, an interview with rap stars and news of music, sculpture, fashion, theatre and cinema.More than 2 500 copies have been sold at about US$6 (about N$40) a copy, a vast amount in a poor country where few among the mostly rural population read for entertainment.Many of the ‘Kwani?’ stories share the vibrancy and anger of Kenya’s blossoming rap music, even if their use of English rules out much of a role for Sheng, a Swahili slang favoured by young urban Kenyans that draws from Kenya’s many languages.Its content and style is frowned on by some in the educational establishment, which for years promoted a reading culture influenced by Victorian English classics, while some readers disparage ‘Kwani?’ — a loose translation is “Why not?” — as the musings of the foreign-educated offspring of the rich.But Michael Vazquez, managing editor of ‘Transition’, a US-based literary journal founded in Africa in 1961, says ‘Kwani?’, and similar outlets such as South Africa’s ‘Chimurenga’ and Nigeria’s ‘Glendora Review’ are engaged in the momentous business of defining new identities and voices for Africa.CULTURAL REVIVAL “There is an African cultural revival going on and it is taking the form of magazines that are springing up all over the place and have a web presence.The ferment is real,” he said.”You have a young generation trying to blast open the (African literary) canon and ask what it means to be African today,” he said, drawing a parallel with a lively 1960s African scene when a host of magazines blossomed around the continent.Founding editor Binyavanga Wainaina, whose colleague Ebba Kalondo [from Namibia] is due to publish a second edition in March, says ‘Kwani?’s’ appearance has attracted a torrent of material from frustrated writers previously unable to find a publisher.”To me this says we are finally becoming a country,” Wainaina wrote.”When art as expression starts to appear, without prompting, all over the suburbs and villages of this country, what we are saying is: we are confident enough to create our own living, our own entertainment, our own aesthetic.Its writers are also winning international recognition.Wainaina won Britain’s 2002 Caine Prize for African writing for his story ‘Discovering Home’.Another Kenyan, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor won it in 2003 for her short story the ‘Weight of Whispers’ about African refugees in Nairobi.Writers are also winning foreign prizes for plays on political subjects that would have been taboo a decade ago.WARLORDISM In Kenya, gradual political liberalisation during the 1990s has seen a relaxation of tribal and racial boundaries in what has been a stable but inward looking society.In the region, genocide and rule by warlords in nearby countries and a resulting influx of refugees has helped fuel a combustible mixture of protest among young urban Kenyans seeking change.That protest was only partially addressed by the 2002 election that ended the 39-year-old rule of Daniel arap Moi’s Kenya African National Union (Kanu) party.”This very proud revolution was basically getting rid of a group of people who did not know what Kenya was all about,” Owuor told Reuters.Since the vote, the government of President Mwai Kibaki has been swamped by tribally-tinged infighting, crime has risen and the economy is still struggling to emerge from recession.”The older generation do not seem to understand that there is a whole other group, a whole population, that knows themselves as Kenyan and nothing else, and wants to get on with the job of whatever being Kenyan is,” Owuor said.”This new government will suffer the same fate if there is no change”.- Nampa-ReutersThese glimpses of life in Kenya come from ‘Kwani?’, a racy, argumentative literary journal that is delighting east African readers and helping to redefine the country’s cultural identity. Kenya’s only literary magazine, ‘Kwani?’ is part of a wider cultural revival giving the country a more assertive artistic presence in Africa, one often shaped by anger at a venal ruling elite that has presided over the country’s long decline. At the heart of much of the new writing is the conviction that the country has barely begun to realise the promise of its independence from Britain in 1963, betrayed by the failures of a complacent over-40 generation mired in tribalism and corruption. “To be Kenyan is to cling to these borders as if we would have been worse off if we had been Uganda or Tanzania or both,” rails one character in a story by ‘Kwani?’ writer Andia Kisia. “Kenya is the place between prosperity and destitution, not a good place, granted, but one from where we can appreciate how things could be infinitely worse,” he adds sarcastically. Identity and ethnicity are common themes in ‘Kwani?’s’ diverse stories and poems about refugees, corruption, the clannish ways of white Kenya and interracial relationships. Its 290 pages also contain a photographic cartoon strip, an interview with rap stars and news of music, sculpture, fashion, theatre and cinema. More than 2 500 copies have been sold at about US$6 (about N$40) a copy, a vast amount in a poor country where few among the mostly rural population read for entertainment. Many of the ‘Kwani?’ stories share the vibrancy and anger of Kenya’s blossoming rap music, even if their use of English rules out much of a role for Sheng, a Swahili slang favoured by young urban Kenyans that draws from Kenya’s many languages. Its content and style is frowned on by some in the educational establishment, which for years promoted a reading culture influenced by Victorian English classics, while some readers disparage ‘Kwani?’ — a loose translation is “Why not?” — as the musings of the foreign-educated offspring of the rich. But Michael Vazquez, managing editor of ‘Transition’, a US-based literary journal founded in Africa in 1961, says ‘Kwani?’, and similar outlets such as South Africa’s ‘Chimurenga’ and Nigeria’s ‘Glendora Review’ are engaged in the momentous business of defining new identities and voices for Africa. CULTURAL REVIVAL “There is an African cultural revival going on and it is taking the form of magazines that are springing up all over the place and have a web presence. The ferment is real,” he said. “You have a young generation trying to blast open the (African literary) canon and ask what it means to be African today,” he said, drawing a parallel with a lively 1960s Afric
an scene when a host of magazines blossomed around the continent. Founding editor Binyavanga Wainaina, whose colleague Ebba Kalondo [from Namibia] is due to publish a second edition in March, says ‘Kwani?’s’ appearance has attracted a torrent of material from frustrated writers previously unable to find a publisher. “To me this says we are finally becoming a country,” Wainaina wrote. “When art as expression starts to appear, without prompting, all over the suburbs and villages of this country, what we are saying is: we are confident enough to create our own living, our own entertainment, our own aesthetic. Its writers are also winning international recognition. Wainaina won Britain’s 2002 Caine Prize for African writing for his story ‘Discovering Home’. Another Kenyan, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor won it in 2003 for her short story the ‘Weight of Whispers’ about African refugees in Nairobi. Writers are also winning foreign prizes for plays on political subjects that would have been taboo a decade ago. WARLORDISM In Kenya, gradual political liberalisation during the 1990s has seen a relaxation of tribal and racial boundaries in what has been a stable but inward looking society. In the region, genocide and rule by warlords in nearby countries and a resulting influx of refugees has helped fuel a combustible mixture of protest among young urban Kenyans seeking change. That protest was only partially addressed by the 2002 election that ended the 39-year-old rule of Daniel arap Moi’s Kenya African National Union (Kanu) party. “This very proud revolution was basically getting rid of a group of people who did not know what Kenya was all about,” Owuor told Reuters. Since the vote, the government of President Mwai Kibaki has been swamped by tribally-tinged infighting, crime has risen and the economy is still struggling to emerge from recession. “The older generation do not seem to understand that there is a whole other group, a whole population, that knows themselves as Kenyan and nothing else, and wants to get on with the job of whatever being Kenyan is,” Owuor said. “This new government will suffer the same fate if there is no change”. – Nampa-Reuters