In this book, Caplan offers a nuanced response to the crisis of representation loudly decried in the mid-1980s that problematized ethnographic author-ity and advocated the decolonization of anthropological writing. Relinquishing authorship to those whose voices had been captured and squeezed into theoretical models irrespective of fit offered an ethical solution, it was argued, to the problem Journal of Asian And African Studies.
...the book remains an exciting experiment in ethnographic representation and provides a vivid glimpse into the lives of three complex and often contradictory Swahili individuals.
–Africa Today, July-Dec, 1998
Product Description
African Voices, African Lives explores the world of Mohammed, a Swahili peasant living on Mafia Island, Tanzania. Through his own words and those of his relatives, the reader sees the world through his eyes, including the invisible world of spirits which plays a significant role in his life.
This information was gathered by anthropologist Pat Caplan over almost three decades of talking and writing with Mohammed. She acts not only as translator and editor, but also as interpreter, bringing in her own knowledge gathered from field data as well as comparative material from other anthropological work. This study will make an important contribution to current debates in anthropology by grappling with issues raised by "personal narratives", authorial authority, and with reflexivity.
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