German Colonialism, Memory and Ebrahim Hussein’s Kinjeketile

Abstract

This paper examines how Ebrahim Hussein in Kinjeketile uses memory of German colonial rule in the then Tanganyika, a part of German East Africa to interrogate the encounter between the coloniser and colonised. Hussein’s play largely deploys the African belief system to represent a moment of great conflict between the German colonial administration and native Tanganyikans as the locals struggle to build national consciousness under nascent nationalism. The paper uses a new historicist approach to determine the discrepancy between fact and fiction, much as the play is based on an actual event that took place in the 1905-1907 period. It argues that the reconstruction of the Maji Maji rebellion is geared towards evoking the memory of the past to teach the present and the future generations rather than present a historical fact. Thus the paper demonstrates the power of memory in invigorating the present in relation to the future.

Keywords: German, Tanganyika, Maji Maji, Ebrahim Hussein, Kinjeketile, Memory