Penina Muhando: Difference between revisions
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'''Penina Muhando''', also known as '''Penina Mlama''' (born 1948), is a [[Tanzania]]n [[Kiswahili]] playwright, and a theorist and practitioner of [[theatre for development |
'''Penina Muhando''', also known as '''Penina Mlama''' (born 1948), is a [[Tanzania]]n [[Kiswahili]] playwright, and a theorist and practitioner of [[theatre for development]] in Tanzania. |
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==Life== |
==Life and literary career== |
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Muhando was born in Berega, [[Morogoro Region]] in Tanzania in 1948. She gained a BA in [[theater arts]], a BA in education, and a PhD in language and linguistics from the [[University of Dar es Salaam]]. She rose to become professor and head of the Department of Theater Arts at the university.<ref name=WWCWW>Ada U. Azodo, "Muhando, Penina", ''Who's Who in Contemporary Women's Writing'', ed. Jane Eldredge Miller, Routledge, 2001, pp. 226-7.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= African Literatures in English: East and West|last=Griffiths|first=Gareth|page=381|publisher=Routledge| year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2GPBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> |
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Muhando emerged among a group of Tanzanian playwrights in the late 1960s and early 1970s . This was in the aftermath of President [[Julius Nyerere]]'s [[Arusha Declaration]] in 1967, after which [[Ujamaa]] socialism became the guiding philosophy of the country. In this environment, theaters were discouraged form performing plays by foreign artists. Local playwrights were called upon by Nyerereto use their art as a means of disseminating the main concepts of Ujamaa to the people of Tanzania and for art to serve as a means of development.<ref name=Conti>{{cite book|title=The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre|editor-last=Chambers|editor-first=Colin|pages=746-747|contribution=Tanzania|publisher=Continuum|year=2002}}</ref> Muhando faced adilemma between writing in English and Kiswahili. Works in English would open up a global clientele but remain inaccessible to most Tanzanians who did not speak the language. Swahili would open up this national audience at the expense of the global. She decided to focus on writing in Kiswahili because she felt that theater was primarily a tool of mass communication and being accessible to the Tanzanian population was more important.<ref>{{cite book|title= Sokomoko Popular Culture in East Africa| editor-last=Graebner|editor-first=Werner|page=216|publisher = Rodopi|year=1992| contribution=In their own voices, African women writers talk|last=James|first Adeola}}</ref><ref>{{cite book:|title=A History of Twentieth-century African Literatures| editor-first=Oyekan editor-last=Owomoyela|page=158|contribution= English language drama and theater|last=Amankulor|first=J. Ndudaku|publisher University of Nebraska Press|year=1993}}</ref> |
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Muhando's earlier works, such as ''Haitia'' (Guilt, 1972) are enthusiastic about the prospects of Ujamaa socialism. However, in the late 1970s and 1980s, it began to be clear that that the expectations that Ujamaa had created with respect to deepening of democracy and development had had not been met. Muhando, along with other writers became more critical in this period. in plays such as ''Nguzo Mama'' (Mother, the main pillar, 1982), ''Lina Ubani'' (There is an antidote for rot, 1984), and ''Mitumba Ndui'' (The Pox, 1989) she registered her disappointment by focusing on political corruption, jockeying for political power and the pursuit of personal profit over community development <ref name=Conti>{{cite book|title=The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre|editor-last=Chambers|editor-first=Colin|pages=746-747|contribution=Tanzania|publisher=Continuum|year=2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|A history of Theatre in Africa|editor-last=Banham|editor-first=Martin| page=243|publisher=Cambridge University Press|contribution=Tanzania|last=Lihamba|first=Amandina}}</ref> |
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Muhando, along with playwrights of various African nationalities, was one of the pioneers of Theater for Development - a movement which sought to let marginalized people use plays to engage in issues important to their lives within their communities and with experts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Anthropology, Theatre, and Development: The Transformative Potential of Performance|editor =A. Flynn, J. Tinius|page=107|contribution= Embodiment, Intellect and Emotion|last=Plastow|first=Jane|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2015}}</ref> |
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==Works== |
==Works== |
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;Plays |
;Plays<ref name=WWCWW/> |
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* '' |
* ''Haitia'' (Guilt), 1972 |
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* ''Tambueni haki zetu'', 1973 |
* ''Tambueni haki zetu'', 1973 |
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* ''Heshima yangu'', 1974 |
* ''Heshima yangu'', 1974 |
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Revision as of 23:16, 23 October 2016
Penina Muhando | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 (age 75–76) |
| Nationality | Tanzanian |
| Alma mater | University of Dar es Salaam |
| Occupation | Playwright |
Penina Muhando, also known as Penina Mlama (born 1948), is a Tanzanian Kiswahili playwright, and a theorist and practitioner of theatre for development in Tanzania.
Life and literary career
Muhando was born in Berega, Morogoro Region in Tanzania in 1948. She gained a BA in theater arts, a BA in education, and a PhD in language and linguistics from the University of Dar es Salaam. She rose to become professor and head of the Department of Theater Arts at the university.[1][2]
Muhando emerged among a group of Tanzanian playwrights in the late 1960s and early 1970s . This was in the aftermath of President Julius Nyerere's Arusha Declaration in 1967, after which Ujamaa socialism became the guiding philosophy of the country. In this environment, theaters were discouraged form performing plays by foreign artists. Local playwrights were called upon by Nyerereto use their art as a means of disseminating the main concepts of Ujamaa to the people of Tanzania and for art to serve as a means of development.[3] Muhando faced adilemma between writing in English and Kiswahili. Works in English would open up a global clientele but remain inaccessible to most Tanzanians who did not speak the language. Swahili would open up this national audience at the expense of the global. She decided to focus on writing in Kiswahili because she felt that theater was primarily a tool of mass communication and being accessible to the Tanzanian population was more important.[4][5]
Muhando's earlier works, such as Haitia (Guilt, 1972) are enthusiastic about the prospects of Ujamaa socialism. However, in the late 1970s and 1980s, it began to be clear that that the expectations that Ujamaa had created with respect to deepening of democracy and development had had not been met. Muhando, along with other writers became more critical in this period. in plays such as Nguzo Mama (Mother, the main pillar, 1982), Lina Ubani (There is an antidote for rot, 1984), and Mitumba Ndui (The Pox, 1989) she registered her disappointment by focusing on political corruption, jockeying for political power and the pursuit of personal profit over community development [3][6]
Muhando, along with playwrights of various African nationalities, was one of the pioneers of Theater for Development - a movement which sought to let marginalized people use plays to engage in issues important to their lives within their communities and with experts.[7]
Works
- Plays[1]
- Haitia (Guilt), 1972
- Tambueni haki zetu, 1973
- Heshima yangu, 1974
- Pambo (Decoration), 1975
- Fasihi na sanaa za maonyesho, 1976
- (with Amandina Lihamba and Ndyanao Balisidya) Harakati za ukombozi (Liberation Struggle), 1982
- Nguzo mama (Mother Pillar), 1982
- Abjadi yetu, 1983
- Lina ubani (Antidote to Rot), 1984
- Talaki si mke wangu (Woman, I Divorce You)
- Other
- "Creating in the Mother-Tongue: The Challenges to the African Writer Today." Research in African Literatures 21.4 (1990): 5-14
- Women's participation in Communication for Development: the popular theatre alternative in Africa, 1991
References
- ^ a b Ada U. Azodo, "Muhando, Penina", Who's Who in Contemporary Women's Writing, ed. Jane Eldredge Miller, Routledge, 2001, pp. 226-7.
- ^ Griffiths, Gareth (2014). African Literatures in English: East and West. Routledge. p. 381.
- ^ a b Chambers, Colin, ed. (2002). "Tanzania". The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. Continuum. pp. 746–747.
- ^ James (1992). "In their own voices, African women writers talk". In Graebner, Werner (ed.). Sokomoko Popular Culture in East Africa. Rodopi. p. 216.
{{cite book}}: Text "first Adeola" ignored (help) - ^ Template:Cite book:
- ^ Lihamba, Amandina. "Tanzania". In Banham, Martin (ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 243.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Text "A history of Theatre in Africa" ignored (help) - ^ Plastow, Jane (2015). "Embodiment, Intellect and Emotion". In A. Flynn, J. Tinius (ed.). Anthropology, Theatre, and Development: The Transformative Potential of Performance. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 107.
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