Marimba and The Musical Figuring of Desire and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin Semzaba's Novel "Marimba Ya Majaliwa" - Imani Sanga

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Marimba and the Musical Figuring of Desire and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin
Semzaba's Novel "Marimba ya Majaliwa"
Author(s): Imani Sanga
Source: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Vol. 46, No. 2
(DECEMBER 2015), pp. 401-421
Published by: Croatian Musicological Society
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43685249
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I. Sanga: Marimba and the Musical Figuring of Desire
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin Semzaba's
Novel Marimba ya Majaliwa
Imani Sanga
University of Dar es Salaam
Department of Fine Arts
and Performing Arts
Marimba and the Musical P.O. Box 35044
DAR ES SALAAM,
Figuring of Desire and Tanzania
E-mail:
Postcolonial National imanisanga@yahoo.com
Identity in Edwin Semzaba’s UDC: 789.6 SEMZABA, EDWIN
Original Scholarly Paper
Novel Marimba ya Majaliwa Izvorni znanstveni rad
Received: July 4, 2014
Primljeno: 4. srpnja 2014.
Accepted: July 29, 2015
Prihvaceno: 29. srpnja 2015.
Introduction
In Tanzania, the Kiswahili name »marimba« is

used to refer to two different types of musical instru
ments, that is, a hand-held lamellophone (which is
similar to what in Zimbabwe is called mbira) and a
xylophone (which is similar to what the Chopi of Abstract - Resume
Mozambique call timbila or the Baganda call akadinda This article discusses the
way a musical instrument
or amadinda). Sometimes a phrase marimba ya mkono marimba is figured in rela
(which means hand-held marimba) is used to differ tion to social identities and
relations in Edwin
entiate the lamellophone type of marimba from the Semzaba’s novel Marimba
xylophone marimba. Different ethnic groups in ya Majaliwa. It argues that
Tanzania (and languages or language dialects) also the novel creates an imagi
nary world in which marim
use names that are closely related to Kiswahili name ba is a central instrument
marimba to refer to this hand-held lamellophone. that acts as an object of
mimetic desire between the
For example, the term ilimba or irimba is commonly
novel's hero and his anta
used by the Wagogo of Dodoma (central Tanzania) gonist. So too, the marimba
as well as the Wamakonde of Mtwara region (Kubik and the marimba competiti
on are used in the novel to
1994: 177-84, Gnielinski n.d.1: 13). The Wamwera of performatively construct
Tanzanian national identity.
Keywords: marimba ■
1 The abbreviation »n.d.« is used here and thereafter Edwin Semzaba ■ Tan
throughout this article for references that are not dated, that is, zania • national identity
the year of publication is not provided or shown. • imaginary world of art
401
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin Semzaba’s
Lindi and Mtwara regions (south-eastern Tanzania) use the term luliimba (Reuster-
Jahn 2007: 6-10) while their neighbors, the Wamakua of Masasi area in Lindi
region, use the term rimpa (Gnielinski n.d.: 13). In addition, Gerhard Kubik
observes that the name malimba is also used among many other ethnic groups that
use this kind of instruments including Wapangwa, Wabena, Wakisi and
Wanyakyusa in the south-western highlands of Tanzania and other ethnic groups
along the Tanzanian shore of Lake Nyasa (Kubik 1994:180-84).
It is this kind of marimba (hand-held lamellophone) that occupies a central
place in Edwin Semzaba's novel Marimba ya Majaliwa (2008). Although the novel,
which is written in Kiswahili language, uses only one word, marimba, the descrip
tion of the instrument and its pictorial representation throughout the novel assure
us that the instrument referred to is lamellophone and not xylophone. In this
novel marimba plays a role of eliciting and mediating human desires and interac
tions. The novel also figures marimba as a source of conflicts between the two
main characters of the novel: Majaliwa (the protagonist) and Kongoti (the main
antagonist).
Drawing from Louise Meintjes (2003: 149, 170) who construes a figure as a
musical element, musical pattern or musical instrument used repeatedly as an
icon or a way of representing and constituting social identities and/or relations,
this article examines various ways through which marimba functions as a musical
figure of desire and identity in the novel Marimba ya Majaliwa. It advances two
lines of thought. First, focusing on the main conflict between Majaliwa and
Kongoti, and using Rene Girard's mimetic theory, the article interprets the way
marimba is figured as an object of desire for both the hero and his main rival. It
argues that throughout the novel Majaliwa's desire and efforts to regain the
marimba that Kongoti had stolen from him at the beginning of the story is medi
ated and impelled by Kongoti's desire and efforts to own and keep the same
marimba. Similarly, Kongoti's desire and efforts to own and keep the marimba is
also motivated by Majaliwa's efforts to recapture his marimba. Second, the article
discusses the way the novel figures marimba as a performative figure of postcolo
nial national identity. It shows that throughout the novel marimba is figured as a
symbol through which people from different places imagine themselves as belong
ing to one nation and through their participation in the marimba competitions at
different levels they enact the identity of this nation and their belonging to it.
It should be noted at the outset that the world under study is an imaginary
musical world created in and through the novel. In order to understand such an
imaginary world, its inhabitants and events that take place in this world it is
important to imaginatively enter and be involved (to some extent) in the novel's
imaginary world. How is this possible? The Italian philosopher and writer
Umberto Eco ponders a similar question when he asks: why do people (readers)
weep the death of a fictional character such as Anna Karenina, a character in Tol
stoy's novel? He writes:
402
I. Sanga: Marimba and the Musical Figuring of Desire IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
To be permanently emotionally involved with the inhabitants of a fictional possible

world, we must satisfy two requirements: (1) we must live in the fictional possible
world as if in an uninterrupted daydream, and (2) we must behave as if we were one
of the characters (Eco 2011:112).
Semzaba, the author of Marimba ya Majaliwa, also wants us to read his novel
in the way suggested by Eco. He wants us to live in the world of Majaliwa and
travel side by side with Majaliwa in his journey throughout Tanzania when
Majaliwa is searching for his Marimba that was stolen by Kongoti at the beginn
ing of the novel, there in Mafia Island. Semzaba tells his readers in this way:
Join Majaliwa in his stimulating journey. Meet Majaliwa's grandmother who can exist
in any form when she avoids and disturbs the vibwengo (nocturnal flying objects
believed to be used by witches to harm their adversaries) in the sky at midnights
when traveling in her nocturnal supernatural airplane with Majaliwa (Semzaba 2008:
back cover).
Given that the persons and other creatures in the imaginary worlds of a novel
or any other work of art do not see, touch, hear, or perceive us (readers) in any
way, we ask ourselves: what kind of beings do we become when we enter such
imaginary worlds? In other words, what is the nature of our existence in such
worlds where we walk, run, fly or sit side by side with the characters in those
worlds without them noticing our presence?
Our existence in the imaginary world of this novel (Marimba ya Majaliwa) is
both an existence of power and powerlessness at the same time. It is an existence
of power in the sense similar to that of the invisible spiritual beings. We have the
power to observe without being noticed. We have the power to travel long
distances, cross oceans and fly over the mountains in a second. We have the power
to observe events taking place in two different places at the same time. We do not
fear harm by lions, crocodiles or sharks even if they fiercely come close to us and
to our hero Majaliwa, because they can only see or touch him. Such is the power
that the author of the novel has bestowed upon his readers. However, this power
is also limited in many ways. Although we become worried of the harm the lions,
crocodiles or sharks can cause to Majaliwa we are unable to do anything to save
him. With all the powers the author has bestowed upon us, unlike the ancestors
in the novel's world (e.g. Majaliwa's grandmother) we cannot intervene in any
actual novelistic action, thought, or intention of those beings in the novel. Such is
the powerlessness of our being in the novel's world as invisible foreigners in that
imaginary world.
But why do we pay attention to the imaginary musical world of a novel
instead of focusing our attention to the ordinary musical world? Certainly, this is
not the best means of understanding the ordinary Tanzanian musical world and
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IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
society. The imaginary worlds of art works and this novel in particular do not
mirror or picture the ordinary music cultures of Tanzania accurately. The world
we encounter in this novel is creatively constructed world and has an independ
ent existence. This does not mean that there are neither relationships nor connec
tions between the imaginary musical world and the ordinary musical world.
Surely, connections between the two kinds of musical worlds exist and the novel
ist draws some references from the ordinary musical world in creating his imagi
nary musical world. But these facts do not make the imaginary musical world of
the novel a »photographic« replica of the ordinary musical world in Tanzania. My
argument is that the imaginary music culture we encounter in this novel, as it is
the case with several other music cultures we encounter in other works of art, is
an important part of Tanzanian society's complex and multifaceted music culture.
So are the ordinary music cultures. To understand the whole of Tanzania's
complex and multifaceted music culture we need to study both the ordinary and
the imaginary music cultures. This is particularly important for ethnomusicology,
which purports to study, as Bruno Netti puts it, »all of the musical manifestations of
a society« (Netti 2005:13; italics in the original). In other words, the justification for
studying or appreciating the music culture we encounter in works of art is not the
way or the magnitude this imaginary world reflects realities in the ordinary
world. But it is the fact that this imaginary musical world is part of the world's
musical cultures and that it shapes people's life experiences. Hence, this article is
my little contribution towards such a comprehensive understanding of the
Tanzania's music culture. It focuses specifically on the musical manifestations in
Semzaba's novel Marimba ya Majaliwa.
My interpretation of the imaginary world of Marimba ya Majaliwa is mainly
hermeneutic. I make efforts to understand it in terms of my understanding of the
music cultures I already know in my ordinary world. Following Hans-Georg
Gadamer (2011) my prior experience of ordinary music culture in Tanzania aids
my understanding of the fictional music culture. Instead of viewing prior experi
ences as »prejudices« or »prejudgments« that distort or block understanding of
newly encountered worlds, I conceive them as »positive prejudices« that help to
bridge and cross the gulf that separates newly encountered imaginary worlds
from the ordinary worlds and hence make these newly encountered worlds
intelligible to us. Gadamer puts it in this way:
Prejudices are not necessarily unjustified and erroneous, so that they inevitably distort
the truth... Only the support of familiar and common understanding makes possible
the venture into alien, the lifting up of something out of alien, and thus the broadening
and enrichment of our own experience of the world (Gadamer 2004: 9,15).
404
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
The Author and the Synopsis of the Story
Bom in Tanga region in Tanzania on 12th of January 1951, Edwin Semzaba is

a son of Charles Joseph Semzaba (father) and Mary Esther Semzaba (mother).
Both of his parents, as he writes in the acknowledgement of Marimba ya Majaliwa,
were storytellers from whom he learnt his art of storytelling (2008: iii). He was
educated at Temeke Primary School (1959-1966), Kigoma Secondary School (1967-
1970) and Mkwawa High School (1971-1972). He also studied at the University of
Dar es Salaam for BA degree (1973-1976) and for MA degree (1980-1983). Semzaba
was first employed at the University of Dar es Salaam in 1976 and he has served
in many capacities including tutorial assistant (1976-1980), assistant lecturer
(1980-1983), administrator (1983-2001), part time lecturer (1983-2001), and princi
pal studio instructor in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts (2000-Pres-
ent). Throughout the years Semzaba has taught a number of courses including
writing for stage, film and radio; acting and directing; African theatre; art and
society, and creative writing. He has written and published numerous stage and
radio plays as well as novels. He has won a number of awards including the First
prize of S1DA Children Adventure Book Competition in 2007 for his story that
was subsequently published as a novel Marimba ya Majaliwa (2008).
Written specifically for children. Marimba ya Majaliwa is a novel that provides
a reader with an extensive knowledge of Tanzanian history, geography, literature,
folklore and music. This educative or didactic role is particularly achieved through
a creative narrative strategy that allows us the readers to travel with the main
character Majaliwa throughout Tanzania. The novel also features informative and
entertaining commentary and stories given to Majaliwa by his grandmother.
Majaliwa's grandmother is an ancestor who, as a spiritual being, is able to incar
nate into a human body and to miraculously travel with Majaliwa all around the
country. Since there is no English translation of the novel I give a synopsis of the
novel's story below.
The story begins with Majaliwa possessing the marimba. He uses it to perform
at the regional marimba competition of the Coastal region which takes place in
Mafia Island. Similar regional competitions will take place in all other regions in
the country before the final competition at the national level which will take place
in Dodoma after forty (40) days from now. In Dodoma each region will be repre
sented by one marimba player who has won the regional competition. The
regional competitions take place in turn. This allows Kongoti, the winner of
marimba national competition last year, to attend all the regional competitions
throughout Tanzania not as a competitor but as an entertainer. For this reason,
Kongoti has an opportunity to see and hear all the regional winners he is going to
compete with at the national level.
On Mafia Island the audience is very impressed with Majaliwa's performance.
After the performance he is declared the winner of regional competition. Many
people in his region are convinced that he will represent them well and become the
405
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
winner of the competition at the national level as well. The novel attributes Majali-
wa's success to the special qualities of the marimba he uses, even though he is also
an excellent singer (Semzaba 2008: 5). Kongoti is in the audience and witnesses
Majaliwa's performance. He becomes envious of Majaliwa because many people
show great admiration of Majaliwa's splendid performance (2008: 2). He too
believes that the success of Majaliwa's performance is made possible by the particu
lar marimba Majaliwa uses. Consequently, he steals this marimba and runs away.
Majaliwa is so saddened by this grabbing of his marimba. He believes that he
will not be able to win the national competition without his marimba. In a dream
his grandmother, an ancestor who died years ago and now lives in the world of
spirits, comes to him and advises him to start waging war with Kongoti in order to
take back his Marimba. Adhering to this advice Majaliwa decides to follow Kongoti
wherever he goes in the hope that he will be able to recapture his marimba. The
association of marimba with the powers of the ancestral spirits is widely spread
among societies which use this kind of instrument. For example, among the Shona
people Zimbabwean »mbira dzavadzimu is believed to enable people to communi
cate with the ancestral spirits« (see Berliner 1993, Mutiure 2011 and Kyker 2014).
Majaliwa's grandmother comes to him in various shapes (human and non
human) and helps him to chase Kongoti and repossess his marimba. Because she
possesses superhuman powers, she is able to swim swiftly in the ocean and fly
like an aircraft in the sky (see figures 1 and 2 here on pp. 407-08, reproduced from
the book). Let me note, at least in passing, that the image of grandmother who has
the body that enables her to swim in the water like fish as in figure 1 evokes a
wide spread myth of a water spirit or a mermaid, called Mami Wata (lit. Mother
Water) or Mamba Muntu and its representation in art is found in different parts of
Africa (see for example, Salmons 1977, Jewsiewicki 1997, Fabian 1997, Drewal
1988 and 2008). Majaliwa's attempts to regain his marimba are hindered by many
obstacles such as sharks, crocodiles, wild animals and armed bandits. His grand
mother tells him that there is another ancestor, a grandfather who brings all these
obstacles because he wants Kongoti to win the national competition again. The
fight takes place not only in the physical world of Majaliwa and Kongoti but also
in the spiritual world where at one time the grandfather succeeds in blocking
Majaliwa's grandmother from coming to assist Majaliwa. We learn this first in
chapter 1 when the grandmother tells Majaliwa: »Your paternal grandfather is on
Kongoti's side. He collaborates with Kongoti so that you do not overcome him
[Kongoti]« (2008: 3; the novel is written in Kiswahili. The translation into English
of this and all other passages quoted from the novel is mine). Likewise, in the last
chapter she also tells Majaliwa that »I was not able to come. Your grandfather had
set a huge army to block me« (2008: 239). Despite all the difficulties, Majaliwa
succeeds in retrieving his marimba just one day before the national competition.
He wins the national competition in Dodoma and his grandmother comes in the
shape of Majaliwa's mother and congratulates him for the victory.
406
Figure 1. Majaliwa's grandmother in the human-fish shape coming to take

Majaliwa to Unguja or Zanzibar (from Semzaba 2008: 6). Drawing
by Godfrey Semwaiko.
407
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
Figure 2: Majaliwa's grandmother flying with Majaliwa in the sky using a

sweeping bloom (from Semzaba 2008:105). Drawing by Godfrey Semwaiko.
408
Triangular Mimetic Desire and Majaliwa-Kongoti Conflict
The story of Majaliwa and Kongoti makes it clear that their conflict is a result
of what Rene Girard calls triangular mimetic desire, that is, a desire which is not
caused primarily by the intrinsic qualities of the object. According to Girard, most
often when someone (a subject) desires a particular object this desire is primarily
imitated from another person who the subject admires and wishes to become like
him/her and this other person possesses or desires the object. This other person
from whom the subject imitates desire is referred to as the model or mediator.
Girard argues that one's desire is not a simple straightforward desire for the object
itself but it is mediated by this model (Girard 1996:39-44). Girard uses the concept
of »triangular desire« to refer to this mediated structure of desire. A triangle in his
formulation comprises three points: Subject- Model-Object (S-M-O). The S's desire
for O does not flow directly from S to O but passes through M as shown in the
figure below (Figure 3).
Figure 3. A triangle representing Girard's triangular mimetic desire where the

subject's desire of the object does not flow through a straight route (S-O) but
goes through a mediated route (S-M-O).
In his book Deceit, Desire and the Novel, Girard analyses works by renowned
European novelists such as Cervantes, Stendhal, Flaubert, Dostoevsky and Proust
and shows that the desire that characters in the novels display is a mimetic one
because these characters do not desire the objects' inherent qualities. They desire
the objects because they realize that their models desire these objects and this
leads these characters to view the objects as desirable. Using a metaphor of the
sun rays Girard writes: »From the mediator, a veritable artificial sun descends a
mysterious ray which makes the object shine with false brilliance« (1965:18, also
see Gorfkle and Williamsen 1994:11-12).
The desire that Kongoti displays for Majaliwa's marimba is precisely a trian
gular mimetic desire. He first sees and hears Majaliwa playing the marimba at the
409
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
regional competition in Mafia Island. He witnesses people admiring Majaliwa's

performance. He also witnesses him becoming a winner in the region. In addition,
during the actual performance Majaliwa sings a song that praises this marimba
and its sound. It becomes clear that Kongoti develops his desire for Majaliwa's
marimba because of the mediation of Majaliwa. Thus Majaliwa becomes the
model of his desire for the object, marimba as shown in the figure 4 below.
Figure 4. A triangle representing mediated flow of Kongoti's desire

for Majaliwa's marimba
Reciprocally, Majaliwa's desire to regain his Marimba throughout the novel

is amplified by Kongoti's desire for the same instrument. Every time Majaliwa
witnesses Kongoti playing the marimba his love for the instrument is stirred up
and thus in spite of (or more accurately, because of) all the difficulties, he tire
lessly continues to find new ways of regaining his marimba. For example, when
in Karagwe, Kongoti performs just before the regional competition starts. He uses
the marimba he had stolen from Majaliwa while Majaliwa himself being in the
audience. People's positive responses make Majaliwa more eager to take his
marimba back (2008:151). It is because of this reciprocity the difference between
the subject and the model is blurred. As Girard puts it:
If the model himself becomes more interested in the object that he designates to his
imitator as a result of the latter's imitations, then he himself falls victim to his contagion.
In fact, he imitates his own desire, through the intermediary of the disciple. The disciple
thus becomes model to his own model, and the model, reciprocally, becomes disciple of
his own disciple. In the last resort, there are no genuine differences left between the two,
or, to put it more precisely, between their desires... In rivalry, everyone occupies all the
positions, one after another and then simultaneously, and there are no longer any
distinct positions (Girard 1987: 299).
The value of the marimba to both Majaliwa and Kongoti increases exponen
tially because of all the reciprocal mimetic desire and conflict between them that
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IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
we encounter from chapter 1 to chapter 60. For this reason, although we end the
novel in chapter 60 by congratulating our protagonist for a victory and success to
regain his marimba, we are more convinced that the fight will continue. We fear
that perhaps this time the fight will be fiercer since Kongoti's desire for the
marimba that now is taken by his rival has increased. Our fear is justified by the
fact that in this relationship of the »doubles«, as Girard observes, the rival always
pays back »with interest« (Girard 1987: 300).
How to Make a Marimba with Words and Songs
The reason for lifting and recontextualizing the title of John L. Austin's book
How to Do Things with Words (1962) is that I find the creation of Majaliwa's
marimba, its uniqueness and its power to elicit mimetic desire and to stir up conflict
between Majaliwa and Kongoti to be a result of the performative effect of words
and songs about Majaliwa's marimba and its sound. According to Austin, perform
ative utterances, do not report or describe a state of affairs but perform the actions
which they designate. In literature, it has been noted that literary utterances do not
only create characters and their actions but also bring into being ideas and
concepts which they deploy. For this reason, Jonathan Culler argues that litera
ture is conceived as an act or event and »takes its place among the acts of language
that transform the world, bringing into being the things that they name« (Culler
1997: 97). There is a Kiswahili adage that says »maneno huumba« (lit. »words have
the power to create«). It is usually used to caution people not to say bad things of
themselves or of other persons. It is also used to encourage people to say good
things they wish should happen to themselves and/or to other people. In the same
way, I find that the construction of Majaliwa's marimba as an object of desire to be
a result of specific words and songs which are spoken or sung by characters in
this novel. To illustrate these claims, let me cite the most prominent examples.
The first uniqueness of this marimba is declared from the outset. Majaliwa's
marimba is described as a unique marimba because it is made up of twenty keys.
The number twenty is used throughout the novel in a way which suggests that all
other marimbas in this imaginary musical world have less than twenty keys.
Related to this, I find the Kiswahili concept used to refer to these keys to be
particularly interesting. Throughout the novel the keys of this marimba are
referred to as nyuzi, meaning literally »strings«. Only in the first chapter, when
Majaliwa describes his instrument, does he use two words: »nyuzi« (strings) and
»chane« (prongs). When his parents try to console him by telling him that he will
get another marimba, he tells them:
Baba sitaki mengine. Marimba yangu yana nyuzi au chane inshirini. Naivaambieni wazazi
wangu, bila yale marimba siwezi kushinda.
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IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
(Father, I do not want another marimba. My marimba has twenty strings or prongs. I
tell you my parents I will not win the competition without that particular marimba)
(2008: 2).
Later during the night when his grandmother comes to him in a dream she
also reiterates a similar statement. She says it is only through this marimba
Majaliwa will be able to win the final competition. She offers to take Majaliwa to
Unguja (another name for Zanzibar) to the next regional competition where
Kongoti has gone with Majaliwa's marimba. She encourages him to start chasing
Kongoti. She says:
Mjukuu wangu, Majaliwa, Kongoti Nachienga ndiye ameiba marimba yako. Ana wasiwasi
utamshinda mkifika huko Dodoma... Hii ni vita mjukuu wangu, hivyo kesho saa sita usiku
tukutane ufukweni nikupeleke Unguja ambako ndiko Kongoti ameelekea kwenye mashindano
ya mchujo.
(Majaliwa, my grandchild, it is Kongoti Nachienga who has stolen your marimba. He
is afraid that you will perform better than him and win the competition in Dodoma...
This is a war my grandchild. Therefore, tomorrow at 12 pm let us meet at the shore. I
will take you to Unguja where he has gone for the regional competition) (2008: 3).
Again in my understanding of marimba ya mkono in most Tanzanian cultures,

the term »chane« seems to be more appropriate since the keys of marimba ya mkono
are usually made of either pieces of wire that have been flattened by hammering
or by bamboo or wooden strips. The pictorial representation of Majaliwa's
marimba suggests that the keys of this particular marimba are not strings. How
ever, rather than considering this as a conceptual error of the author, I posit that
the use of the concept nyuzi evokes to the reader the timbral qualities of the
stringed instruments rather than idiophones. This becomes the case because every
time one reads and thinks of this marimba, its sound is associated with the strings.
And since, as I have pointed out from the outset, the musical world of Marimba ya
Majaliwa is an imaginary world, it is in this imaginary world where it is possible
to hear the string tone out of marimba ya mkono and this is a tone quality that
makes this particular marimba a unique instrument and hence an object of
mimetic desire. I claim that the term used to describe the instrument influences
the way we perceive it and its sound. For example, the novel will create a new
mental sonic image and experience of the sound of marimba to a person from the
Wamwera of Lindi (Southern Tanzania) where such a flat lamellae of their luliimba
is called liino which means tooth (Reuster-Jahn 2007: 10). Every time we have to
imagine the beauty of the sound produced by this unique instrument, we are
guided by the description of the instruments as a marimba with »nyuzi ishirini«
(20 strings). It is through this description and our prior experiences with the
sounds of stringed instruments that we imaginatively hear the string-like timbre
coming from Majaliwa's marimba.
412
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
A*
w
6J™
Figure 5. A drawing of Majaliwa performing with his marimba in front

of the audience in Dodoma (from Semzaba 2008: 239). Drawing by Godfrey
Semwaiko.
Majaliwa's marimba, its uniqueness and its power to elicit mimetic desire
comes also from the performative act of songs that Majaliwa sings. And here there
are two aspects that are involved: words (song lyrics) and elements of vocal
performance. To start with song lyrics, in the very first chapter when we encoun
ter Majaliwa performing at the regional competition in Mafia Island he sings to
praise his marimba. Here are the lyrics of his first song:
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IRASM 46 (2015) 2:401-421
Majaliwa's Songs in Original English Translation of the Song

Kiswahili
Mie Majaliwa naimba It is me Majaliwa who sings
Nimejaliwa kuimba I am talented in singing
Kwa haya yangu marimba With this marimba of mine
Mapigo yenda sambamba The beats [of the marimba] move
perfectly [with my singing]
Majaliwa naimba It me Majaliwa who sings

Naimba kwa kutamba I sing [in the style of ] praise-singing
Nawapa kwenye dimba I give you [here] on stage
Tumbuizo la marimba an entertainment of the marimba
Semzaba 2008:1; translation from Kiswahili by the author
The following night when he mourns the loss of his marimba we hear
Majaliwa singing sorrowfully about his lost marimba (2008: 3). To the reader, the
song further cements the rationale why this marimba is so important. Here are the
lyrics of the second song:
Majaliwa's Songs in Original Kiswahili English Translation of the

Song
Nasikitika mubaraka, nasikitika mubaraka I grieve deeply, I grieve deeply
Marimba yangu kuibiwa, nasikitika My marimba has been stolen,
mubaraka I grieve deeply
Nasononeka moyoni, nasononeka mubaraka I grieve deeply, I grieve deeply
Marimba yangu kuibiwa, nasononeka My marimba has been stolen,
mubaraka I grieve deeply
Semzaba 2008: 3; translation from Kiswahili by the author
There is another song that Majaliwa sings about his marimba. He performs it
with his own recaptured marimba in Dodoma during the final Grand National
competition. The novel puts it in such a way that we believe that Majaliwa becomes
a winner of the competition because he performs using this instrument. In this
last song Majaliwa sings:
414
and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin Semzaba's
Majaliwa's Songs in Original English Translation of the Song

Kiswahili
Mimi Majaliwa naimba It is me Majaliwa who sings
Na haya yangu marimba with this marimba of mine.
Ndiye wangu mchumba She [the marimba] is my fiancee.
Naimba Majaliwa naimba It is me Majaliwa who sings.
Rimba langu linagonga My rimba beats.

Sauti hufika mbali Its sound travels and reaches far.
Nimepata kwa wahenga I have received it from ancestors.
Nalitumia kwa feli I use it expertly.
Milio linavyopanga [I praise] the way it organizes its sound.
Ni ajabu rimba hili This is a magnificent rimba.
Ndiye wangu mchumba She is my fiancee.
Naimba Majaliwa naimba I sing, it is me Majaliwa who sings.
Semzaba 2008: 237; translation from Kiswahili by the author
The two songs above (the first and the last) employ a common art form in
East Africa (Tanzania in particular) known as majigambo - personal praise. Origi
nally, it was used by palace musicians to praise kings or chiefs. These majigambo
play an important role in enacting or proclaiming the kingship, or chieftain of the
king or chief respectively. Among the Bahaya of Bukoba, for example, the enanga
praise singers served both political and aesthetic ends. They sang poems about
the ruling class and extolled their heroes and their kings. The best of these singers
»were always attached to the courts of kings and noblemen, and many were hand
somely rewarded« (Mulokozi 1983: 283-284). In Marimba ya Majaliwa these
majigambo are used to enact the value of marimba and hence increase its power to
elicit mimetic desire for this object among the rivals. Majaliwa also praises the
way the rhythm from his marimba goes well with his singing. This leads me to the
second aspect of the songs.
The efficacy of the marimba as an object of desire is partly made possible by
the way Majaliwa performs the songs. This includes not only how he produces his
voice but also the way he blends his voice and rhythm with sound and rhythm of
the music played on his marimba. In this respect, it is also important to consider
various actions that accompany his singing. In short, the performative effect of
Majaliwa's marimba to elicit desire is partly constructed through Majaliwa's way
of performance of these songs.
415
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
How to Create a Nation with Marimba
Marimba is used in the imaginary world of Marimba ya Majaliwa to enact

Tanzanian national identity. As an African traditional instrument it is used to
counteract cultural colonialism and its aftermath. The use of marimba revitalizes
the value of traditional musical practices including singing songs, playing musical
instruments and dancing that have been devalued by cultural colonialism and
neocolonialism in favour of western musical practices. In the ordinary Tanzanian
world the practice of revitalizing traditional cultural practices has been backed up
by a political force exemplified by the efforts of first president of Tanzania
Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere. In 1962 when forming the new Ministry of
Culture and Youth he complained that:
Of the crime of colonialism there is none worse than the attempt to make us believe
we had no indigenous culture of our own; or that what we did have was worthless -
something of which we should be ashamed, instead of source of pride. .. .When we
were at school we were taught to sing the songs of the Europeans. How many of us
were taught the songs of the Wanyamwezi or of the Wahehe? Many of us learnt ...
even to dance the »waltz« and the »foxtrot«. But how many of us can dance, have even
heard of the Gombe Sugu, the Mangala,... Kiduo or Lele Mama? ... Most of us can play the
guitar, the piano, or other European musical instruments. How many Africans in
Tanganyika, particularly among the educated, can play the African drums? How
many can play the Nanga, or the Marimba, the Kilanzi, Ligambo, or the Imangala? ... So I
have set up this new Ministry to help us regain our pride in our own culture. So I want
it to seek out the best of the traditions and customs and of all the tribes and make them
part of our national culture (Nyerere 1967:186-87)
In the imaginary world of Marimba ya Majaliwa, marimba has been picked up

as one of »the best« of the traditions which is promoted and made to be part of the
new Tanzanian national culture and young people are encouraged to use. Organiz
ing competitions at regional and national level for marimba playing is one of the
ways of ensuring that the youth continue to use this traditional music instrument.
The marimba instrument and its competitions do not act only as symbols
representing the Tanzanian nation, but also are used in this novel to enact national
identity. In his groundbreaking book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the
Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Benedict Anderson (1991) argues that nations are
imagined communities. He points out that most people identified themselves as
belonging to a particular nation although that nation included people beyond the
boundaries of a true ethnocommunity and even though it included people they
would never know personally. By ethnocommunity I refer to a community or
group of people who shared a common culture, language, history and territory,
and more importantly, a common ancestral background (for a broader discussion
of this and related concepts see Gyekye 1997 and Sanga 2008). Anderson writes:
416
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
»It [the nation] is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will
never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet
in the minds of each lives the image of their communion« (1991: 6). Anderson
shuns away from considering the nation as an invented community in order to
avoid the idea of »falsity« imbedded in the concept. As he points out, »communi-
ties are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in
which they are imagined« (1991: 6). The creation of such imagined communities
in Europe during the nineteenth century was enhanced by the spread of literacy
and print capitalism. With these media people could »imagine their action being
simultaneous with those of others located elsewhere« (Wade 2000: 3).
In Marimba ya Majaliwa the musical instrument marimba and the marimba
competitions organized at both the regional and national levels are ways through
which Tanzanian nation is imagined. It is through these competitions that people
in their various regions recognize or imagine themselves as part of a larger
national entity called Tanzania. And people of each region participate in the
national competition project by sending their representatives who have won the
regional competitions. Nicholas Cook discusses how the actual act of performing
a South African national anthem »Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika« which »involves
communal participation and interaction« does not only symbolize unity but
enacts it (Cook 1998: 79-80). In the same way, the participation of representatives
from all the regions in the marimba national competition in Dodoma in this novel
is itself an act of enacting Tanzanian nationality. People of all the regions are
united not only by the same symbol, marimba competition, but by their actual
participation (through representatives) in the competition.
Finally, I want to note the totalizing effect of the way marimba has been used
as a figure of Tanzanian national identity in the imaginary world of Marimba ya
Majaliwa. The Tanzania of the novel Marimba ya Majaliwa is a country with many
different music cultures and many different musical instruments. When Majaliwa
goes to Bukoba, for example, the performances before the actual competitions
involve the playing of enanga (a zither), a traditional musical instrument com
monly used among the Wahaya of Bukoba, especially by their epic singers called
by the name of this instrument: enanga singers (2008: 149-51). However, organiz
ing a national music competition that revitalizes the use of traditional music by
selecting only one musical instrument which is commonly used by a few ethnic
groups is an act of »symbolic violence« (Bourdieu 1991) against other traditional
music instruments and against music cultures which do not use marimba or do
not consider it as a symbol of their identity. And perhaps this selectivity is also
evoked in the above quoted speech by Nyerere when he says: »So I want it to seek
out the best of the traditions and customs and of all the tribes and make them part
of our national culture« (Nyerere 1967: 186-87). Note that the power to decide
what the best is and to actually select it is in the hands of only a few people. In our
417
IRASM 46 (2015) 2: 401-421
case it is only the organizers of the marimba competitions who actually have
decided that marimba is the best tradition to be revitalized and promoted.
Conclusion
I began this article by arguing that a novel, as it is the case with other works
of art, creates an imaginary world. In the imaginary world of Marimba ya Majaliwa
we experience marimba being part of a complex music culture in which marimba
acts as an object of mimetic desire and a source of conflict between the protagonist
and antagonist as well as a way of constructing Tanzanian national identity. For
this reason, marimba is an instrument that has a »social life« (Bates 2012) in the
novel Marimba ya Majaliwa. I have argued that there are a number of performative
acts in a form of names, descriptions of its sound and parts, song lyrics about the
instrument and elements of song performance through which the marimba has
acquired its value to the extent of being a source of mimetic desire and conflict. In
addition, I have shown that the practice of marimba competition itself is a perform
ative act through which Tanzanian national identity is enacted in this novel.
People's participation in this competition is a way through which the nation and
people's national identity are imagined.
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420
Sazetak
Marimba i glazbeno shvacanje zudnje i postkolonijalnog nacionalnog identiteta

u romanu Marimba ya Majaliwa Edwina Semzabe
Ovaj clanak raspravlja o nacinu na koji je glazbalo marimba shvaceno s obzirom na

drustvene identitete i odnose u romanu Edwina Semzabe Marimba ya Majaliwa. Tvrdi se
da roman stvara imaginarni svijet u kojem je marimba sredisnji instrument koji djeluje kao
objekt mimeticke zudnje izmedu junaka romana i njegova protivnika. Isto tako se u romanu
marimba i marimbisticko natjecanje koriste da bi se tanzanijski nacionalni identitet izgradio
i na izvodackom planu.
421

Marimba and The Musical Figuring of Desire and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin Semzaba's Novel "Marimba Ya Majaliwa" - Imani Sanga

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Marimba and The Musical Figuring of Desire and Postcolonial National Identity in Edwin Semzaba's Novel "Marimba Ya Majaliwa" - Imani Sanga

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Croatian

In Tanzania, the Kiswahili name »marimba« is

To be permanently emotionally involved with the inhabitants of a fictional possible

The Author and the Synopsis of the Story

Bom in Tanga region in Tanzania on 12th of January 1951, Edwin Semzaba is

Figure 1. Majaliwa's grandmother in the human-fish shape coming to take

Figure 2: Majaliwa's grandmother flying with Majaliwa in the sky using a

Triangular Mimetic Desire and Majaliwa-Kongoti Conflict

Figure 3. A triangle representing Girard's triangular mimetic desire where the

regional competition in Mafia Island. He witnesses people admiring Majaliwa's

Figure 4. A triangle representing mediated flow of Kongoti's desire

Reciprocally, Majaliwa's desire to regain his Marimba throughout the novel

How to Make a Marimba with Words and Songs

Again in my understanding of marimba ya mkono in most Tanzanian cultures,

Figure 5. A drawing of Majaliwa performing with his marimba in front

Majaliwa's Songs in Original English Translation of the Song

Majaliwa naimba It me Majaliwa who sings

Majaliwa's Songs in Original Kiswahili English Translation of the

Majaliwa's Songs in Original English Translation of the Song

Rimba langu linagonga My rimba beats.

How to Create a Nation with Marimba

Marimba is used in the imaginary world of Marimba ya Majaliwa to enact

In the imaginary world of Marimba ya Majaliwa, marimba has been picked up

ECO, Umberto. 2011. Confessions of a Young Novelist. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard

SALMONS, Jill. 1977. Mammy Wata. African Arts 10 (3): 8-15.

Marimba i glazbeno shvacanje zudnje i postkolonijalnog nacionalnog identiteta

Ovaj clanak raspravlja o nacinu na koji je glazbalo marimba shvaceno s obzirom na

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