Novel
Kusadikika: A Country in the Sky
Kusadikika, nchi iliyo angani
Shaaban Robert · 1951
Synopsis
Kusadikika is a country suspended in the sky, whose name comes from the verb to believe: its inhabitants have no right to question, only the right to believe, and all the women there give birth to twins. Karama appears there before the king, the Prime Minister and the council for his teachings, and conducts his defence by recounting the journeys of the messengers whom the country once sent towards the four cardinal points, and what they found in better-governed lands.
Context
The book appeared in 1951, nearly a decade before the Swahili novel took off, and forms with two other narratives a utopian trilogy, the last of which appeared only after its author's death. Under the veil of utopia, it challenges greed and abuse of power, and targets the colonial state in veiled terms: the country of the messengers resembles paradise, that of the accused hell. Critics see in it a moral lesson carried by allegorical character names, and the narrative takes place for the most part in a courtroom.
Who it is for
A short allegorical novel in Swahili, translated into English. It reads like a fable, the allusions to the colonial state remaining veiled.
Prizes and reception
Constantly reissued since 1951, it remains one of the most widely read books in Swahili literature.