From VVU/UKIMWI (HIV/AIDS) to UVIKO-19 (COVID-19): An epistemological analysis of pandemics in Tanzania through Swahili literature

Abstract

This paper deals with a theme that has been a topical issue since the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of coronavirus, by comparison with the philosophical and epistemological aspects of HIV/AIDS as they are reflected in different genres of Swahili literature. I will illustrate findings obtained through my analysis of William Mkufya’s novels dealing with HIV/AIDS in a prospective way with the upcoming literature dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. The conclusions I have drawn from the analysis of the philosophical novels, by the Tanzanian intellectual William Mkufya, will be the departure point for my follow-up research on the epistemological, ontological and phenomenological aspects of Covid-19 in Tanzania through different genres of Swahili literature. The potential objectives of this forthcoming research will be the following: firstly, to establish a fictional genre that articulates knowledge about Covid-19; secondly, to explore the evolution of Swahili language used to communicate messages on Covid-19; thirdly, to illustrate the changes undergone by literature after the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak; and finally, to investigate the philosophical perspectives characterising this literary stream: Humanist or post-humanist?