Peponi / Abdulrazak Gurnah, Ida Hadjivayanis (Tafsiri)

Swahili translation of the Nobel-prize winning author's 1994 novel Paradise. Born in East Africa, Yusuf suddenly left home at the age of twelve. It does not occur to him even for a second, that he will be away from his parents for a long time, and he does not think to ask when he will return or why the trip was arranged so suddenly. Yusuf believes that he is escorting Ami Aziz, but the truth is that his 'ami' is a businessman, also very rich, and Yusuf has been mortgaged to pay his father's debts. Yusuf finds himself traveling in many other cities and towns where he meets all kinds of people. He comes of age and grows up in a world that is changing rapidly due to the entry of colonialism and its tyranny and the society is damaged by the disruption of its culture. This is the first translation of Abdulrazak Gurnah's novels in an African language. Abdulrazak Gurnah is the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. He has written ten novels including this one about paradise. Gurnah is Professor of English Studies and Colonial Literature at the University of Kent. Dr. Ida Hadjivayanis is a Senior Lecturer in Swahili Studies at SOAS, University of London. He has translated several novels into Kiswahili and English.

Swahili