Swahili literature is usually divided into classical and contemporary periods and genres. There were early historical works, such as Tarekhe ya Pate (“The Pate Chronicle”); reassembled by the 19th-century scholar Fumo Omar al-Nabhani, it describes events from the 13th to the 19th century. Another chronicle, Khabari za Lamu (“The Lamu Chronicle”), takes the 18th and 19th centuries as its subject. Both religious and secular poetry, showing the influence of Muslim Arabic literature and of the East African culture from which it arose, was a central vehicle of written literary expression. Al Inkishafi (The Soul’s Awakening), by Sayyid Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir, has closer connections to historical reality, albeit still within an Islamic context. The didactic Utendi wa Mwana Kupona (1858; “Poem of Mwana Kupona”) was written by the first prominent Swahili female poet, Mwana Kupona binti Msham. Love poetry, like other poetry, was sung with or without musical accompaniment. The epic of the legendary figure Fumo Liyongo wa Bauri, who likely lived during the 12th century, was created by Muhammad Kijumwa (Utenzi wa Fumo Liyongo [1913; “The Epic of Fumo Liyongo”). Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy wrote much poetry, including works with nationalistic topics. There were also contemporary epics, including Utenzi wa vita vya Wadachi kutamalaki mrima, 1307 A.H. (1955; The German Conquest of the Swahili Coast, 1897 A.D.), by Hemedi bin Abdallah bin Said Masudi al-Buhriy, and Utenzi wa vita vya Maji Maji (1933; “The Epic of the Maji Maji Rebellion”), by Abdul Karim bin Jamaliddini. A novel, Habari za Wakilindi (“The Story of the Wakilindi Lineage”; Eng. trans. The Kilindi), published in three volumes between 1895 and 1907 by Abdallah bin Hemedi bin Ali Ajjemy, deals with the Kilindi, the rulers of the state of Usambara.

It was Shaaban Robert who had the most dynamic and long-lasting effect on contemporary Swahili literature. He wrote poetry, prose, and proverbs. Almasi za Afrika (1960; “African Diamonds”) is one of his famous books of poetry. Of his prose, his utopian novel trilogy is among his best-known works: Kusadikika, nchi iliyo angani (1951; Kusadikika, a Country in the Sky), Adili na nduguze (1952; “Adili and His Brothers”), and Kufikirika (written in 1946, published posthumously in 1967). Adili and His Brothers is told largely by means of flashbacks. In Kusadikika a fantasy land is created. This largely didactic novel is heavy with morals, as suggested by the allegorical names given to the characters. (In the succeeding works of his trilogy, Robert moves away from the homiletic somewhat.) By means of flashbacks and images of the future, Kusadikika tells the story of Karama, which occurs mainly in a courtroom. Like many other African authors of his time, he juxtaposes the oral and the written in this novel; it is his experimentation with narrative time that is unique. Robert also wrote essays and Utenzi wa vita vya uhuru, 1939 hata 1945 (1967; “The Epic of the Freedom War, 1939 to 1945”).

Significant poetry collections include Amri Abedi’s Sheria za kutunga mashairi na diwani ya Amri (1954; “The Principles of Poetics Together with a Collection of Poems by Amri”). Ahmad Nassir and Abdilatif Abdalla also wrote poetry. Abdalla’s Sauti ya dhiki (1973; “The Voice of Agony”) contains poems composed between 1969 and 1972, when he was a political prisoner. Euphrase Kezilahabi wrote poetry (as in Karibu ndani [1988; “Come In”]) that led the way to the establishment of free verse in Swahili. Other experimenters with poetry included Mugyabuso M. Mulokozi and Kulikoyela K. Kahigi, who together published Malenga wa bara (1976). Ebrahim N. Hussein and Penina Muhando produced innovative dramatic forms through a synthesis of Western drama and traditional storytelling and verse. A play by Hussein, Kinjeketile (1969; Eng. trans. Kinjeketile), deals with the Maji Maji uprising, and Muhando wrote such plays as Hatia (1972; “Guilt”), Tambueni haki zetu (1973; “Reveal Our Rights”), Heshima yangu (1974; “My Honour”), and Pambo (1975; “Decoration”). The Paukwa Theatre Association of Tanzania produced Ayubu, published in 1984. Henry Kuria experimented with drama with such plays as Nakupenda, lakini… (1957; “I Love You, But…”).

Muhammad Saleh Abdulla Farsy wrote the novel Kurwa and Doto: maelezo ya makazi katika kijiji cha Unguja yaani Zanzibar (1960; “Kurwa and Doto: A Novel Depicting Community Life in a Zanzibari Village”). Another utopian novel was written by Paul O. Ugula, Ufunguo wenye hazina (1969; “The Key to the Treasure”). There were also novels about contemporary society, including Kuishi kwingi ni kuona mengi (1968; “Living Long Is to Experience Much”) and Alipanda upepo kuvuna tufani (1969; “He Who Sows the Wind Reaps the Storm”), by J.N. Somba. Christianity is a strong influence in these novels. The Mau Mau uprising is treated in a novel by P.M. Kareithi, Kaburi bila msalaba (1969; “Grave Without a Cross”). Muhammad Said Abdulla wrote the first Swahili detective novel, Mzimu wa watu wa kale (1960; “Graveyard of the Ancestors”), and with the appearance of Faraji Katalambulla’s Simu ya kifo (1965; “Phone Call of Death”), the genre hit its stride. G.C. Mkangi’s novel Ukiwa (1975; “Loneliness”) and Ndyanao Balisidya’s novel Shida (1975; “Hardship”) focus on contemporary social conflicts.

Popular newspaper fiction was a major source of literary storytelling during the 20th century. It appeared in such newspapers as Baraza and Taifa Weekly and included writing by A.T. Banzi (“Lazima nimwoe nitulize moyo” [1970; “I Have to Marry Her to Calm My Heart”]) and Bob N. Okoth (“Rashidi akasikia busu kali lamvuta ulimi” [1969; “Rashidi Felt a Wild Kiss Pulling His Tongue”]). In the 1980s this genre flourished with works by such authors as the prolific Ben R. Mtobwa and Rashidi Ali Akwilombe.

In addition to pushing the boundaries of verse, Kezilahabi also experimented with the novel form; Nagona (1990) is an example. He had a major influence on the contemporary novel. In his Rosa Mistika (1971) the effects of alien cultures on indigenous cultures are measured. In Kichwamaji (1974; “Waterhead”) he treats the conflict between the generations, and in Dunia uwanja wa fujo (1975; “The World Is a Field of Chaos”) he emphasizes the effects of foreign cultures on indigenous cultures. His critical stand on Tanzania’s socialism is reflected in Gamba la nyoka (1979; “The Snake’s Skin”). In Kwaheri Iselamagazi (1992; “Goodbye, Iselamagazi”), Bernard Mapalala explores critically the rule of the Nyamwezi warlord Mirambo during the 19th century. The topic of AIDS emerged in the 1980s in novels such as Kifo cha AIDS (1988; “An AIDS Death”), by Clemence Merinyo.

Xhosa

The first piece of Xhosa writing was a hymn written in the early 19th century by Ntsikana. The Bible was translated between the 1820s and 1859. Lovedale Press was established in the 19th century by the London Missionary Society. In 1837 the Wesleyans published a journal, Umshumayeli Indaba (“The Preacher’s News”), which ran to 1841. Lovedale, the Scots mission, was the centre of early Xhosa writing. Ikhwezi was produced during the years 1844 and 1845. The Wesleyan missionaries started a magazine in 1850, Isitunywa Senyanga (“The Monthly Messenger”); its publication was interrupted by one of the frontier wars. A monthly in both Xhosa and English, Indaba (“The News”), edited by William Govan, ran from 1862 until 1865; it was succeeded by The Kaffir Express in 1876, to be replaced by Isigidimi samaXhosa (“The Xhosa Messenger”), in Xhosa only. John Tengo Jabavu and William Gqoba were its editors. It ceased publication with Gqoba’s death in 1888. Imvo Zabantsundu (“Opinions of the Africans”) was a newspaper edited by Jabavu, who was assisted by John Knox Bokwe. Izwi Labantu (“The Voice of the People”) began publication in 1897 with Nathaniel Cyril Mhala as its editor; it was financially assisted by Cecil Rhodes, who had resigned as prime minister of Cape Colony in 1896. Much early Xhosa prose and poetry appeared in these periodicals.

African protest, which was not allowed in works published by the mission presses, was heard in the journals. In fact, Imvo Zabantsundu was suppressed by military authorities during the South African War. Gqoba and William Wawuchope Citashe published politically potent poetry in the newspapers. Jonas Ntsiko (pseudonym uHadi Waseluhlangeni [“Harp of the Nation”]) in 1877 urged Isigidimi samaXhosa to speak out on political issues. Poets such as Henry Masila Ndawo and S.E.K. Mqhayi assailed white South Africans for creating an increasingly repressive atmosphere for Blacks. James J.R. Jolobe attempted in his poetry to blend nostalgia for the Xhosa past with an acceptance of the Christian present. (Indeed, many early writers of prose and verse had Christian backgrounds that were the result of their having attended missionary schools, and so shared Jolobe’s thematic concerns.) Mqhayi was called "the father of Xhosa poetry" by the Zulu poet and novelist Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, but Jolobe was the innovator who experimented aggressively with form.

Some of the first prose writers, such as Gqoba and W.B. Rubusana, were concerned with putting into print materials from the Xhosa oral traditions. Tiyo Soga and his son, John Henderson Soga, translated Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress into Xhosa as uHambo lomhambi (1866 and 1926). Henry Masila Ndawo’s first novel, uHambo lukaGqoboka (1909; “The Journey of a Convert”), was heavily influenced by the first half of that translation. The Xhosa oral tradition also had an effect on Ndawo’s work, including the novel uNolishwa (1931), about a woman whose name means "Misfortune." Brought up in an urban environment, she is the cause of difficulties among her people and between the races. In uNomathamsanqa noSigebenga (1937; “Nomathamsanqa and Sigebenga”)—the name Nomathamsanqa meaning "Good Fortune" and the name Sigebenga meaning "Criminal" or "Ogre"—the son of a traditional chief provides sustenance for his people. Enoch S. Guma, in his novel uNomalizo; okanye, izinto zalomhlaba ngamajingiqiwu (1918; Nomalizo; or, The Things of This Life Are Sheer Vanity), wrote a somewhat allegorical study of two boys, borrowing the structure of the story from the Xhosa oral tradition.

Guybon Sinxo’s novels describe city life in a way similar to those of Alex La Guma, a South African writer, and those of the Nigerian author Cyprian Ekwensi. In Sinxo’s uNomsa (1922), the main character, Nomsa, becomes aware of the dangers of urban living, learning "that the very people who most pride themselves on their civilization" act against those ideals. In the end, Nomsa marries the village drunk and reforms him; she then returns with him to the country, where she creates a loving home, albeit a Christian one. In Sinxo’s second novel, Umfundisi waseMthuqwasi (1927; “The Priest of Mthuqwasi”), Thamsanqa, a businessman, has a dream that inspires him to become a Christian minister, but in so doing he severs his connections with his traditional past and soon after dies, exhausted. His brother-in-law, however, combines Christianity and Xhosa tradition in his life, and he survives. Sinxo’s third novel, published in 1939, was Umzali wolahleko (“The Prodigal Parent”), the story of a boy, Ndopho, and his brother, Ndimeni. Ndopho is spoiled; Ndimeni does all the work in the household. Ndimeni’s labours bring him success, while Ndopho’s self-involvement leads him steadily down. Sinxo moralizes, "No Xhosa will flourish if he continues to drink!"

The greatest achievement in Xhosa writing, and one of Africa’s finest novels, is Ingqumbo yeminyanya (1940; The Wrath of the Ancestors), written by A.C. Jordan. In this novel Jordan explores the central issue that concerned most of the writers who came before him—the relationship between African tradition and the intrusion of the West into African societies—and in the process he moves the novel form into greater complexity and nuance. In an unsparingly realistic way, Zwelinzima, the novel’s central character, is confronted with the demands of Mpondomise tradition and Western Christianity, of past and present. What dooms Zwelinzima is that he is unable to bring these warring sides into harmony. Like Okonkwo in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Chaka in Mofolo’s Chaka, Zwelinzima is given the opportunity to assume a heroic role, but, because of an essential flaw, he is brought down in a starkly realistic manner by an internal psychological struggle. That struggle is the conflict within his society writ small.

Other novelists after Jordan continued in various ways and with varied degrees of success to deal with these same issues, including P.M. Lutshete in Unyana wolahleko (1965; “The Prodigal Son”) and Peter M. Mtuze in uDingezweni (1966). In E.B. Ndovela’s Sikondini (1966), the character Zwilakhe cuts himself off from Xhosa customs and lives an unhappy life, while Jongikhaya, who has steadily followed Xhosa customs, is happily married and has become a successful businessman. Westernized Africans and uncompromising Xhosa traditionalists are at cross-purposes in Z.S. Qangule’s Izagweba (1972; “Weapons”). In K.S. Bongela’s Alitshoni lingenandaba (1971; “The Sun Does Not Set Without News”), the reader is led to a revelation of the corruption that results when traditional ties are broken. Christianity and urban corruption are at the centre of Witness K. Tamsanqa’s Inzala kaMlungisi (1954; “The Progeny of Mlungisi”). Tradition and modernism are a theme in D.Z. Dyafta’s Ikamva lethu (1953; “Our Ancestry”) and E.S.M. Dlova’s Umvuzo wesono (1954; “The Wages of Sin”). Other authors—such as Aaron Mazambana Mmango, Marcus A.P. Ngani, Bertrand Bomela, Godfrey Mzamane, D.M. Lupuwana, and Minazana Dana—confronted very similar issues. These writers tried to come to terms with the world that so enthralled 19th-century Xhosa intellectuals but that lost its appeal as the marginalized role of the African in it became more and more evident.