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Kaswa: Oral Tradition of a Fipa Prophet1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

R. G. Willis
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Extract

The oral traditions of the Fipa of south-west Tanzania tell of the advent in their country in pre-colonial times of a prophet called Kaswa. This man is said to have foretold the destruction of the old social order in Ufipa (the name given to the country of the Fipa) and its replacement by the values and technology of a capitalistic society. After making these prophecies Kaswa miraculously disappeared into the ground.

Résumé

KASWA: TRADITION ORALE D'UN PROPHÈTE FIPA

Les traditions orales des Fipa du Sud-Ouest de la Tanzanie relatent l'avènement, à l'époque pré-coloniale, d'un prophète nommé Kaswa.

Cet homme est censé avoir prédit la destruction de l'ancien ordre social en pays Fipa, et son remplacement par les valeurs et la technologie d'une société capitaliste. Après avoir fait ces prophéties Kaswa a été miraculeusement englouti.

L'analyse formelle de cette tradition Fipa révèle un modèle d'oppositions structurelles à la manière, devenue familière, de Lévi-Strauss. Cependant, l'histoire Kaswa n'est certainement pas un ‘mythe’ sanctifiant un ordre social traditionnel, mais plutôt le contraire: un ‘anti-mythe’.

L'examen des symboles utilisés par Kaswa révèle plutôt une transformation des concepts fondamentaux dans la mythologie Fipa. L'‘anti-mythe’, qui semble créer une rupture totale avec le passé, lui est en réalité solidement associé par le biais des symboles traditionnels sous-jacents dissimulés sous le message iconoclaste.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , July 1970 , pp. 248 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1970

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References

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