Abstract
Humankind is the most rational and manipulative being. Men and women will always look for solutions to problems and issues affecting them. This search for solutions is at the first instance located within the natural sphere. When nature fails to provide adequate answers, human beings often turn to the spiritual sphere for answers. Witchcraft also referred to as sorcery or black magic, falls anywhere between the natural and the spiritual or supernatural. The practice is an age-old one and, according to anthropological studies, cuts across all the continents of the world. This paper concerns itself with the rendition of the practice from a Swahili literary perspective. The analysis aims at attempting to understand the existence of the practice, its social effects and reasons for its persistence in the society. We analyse the practice of witchcraft as depicted in two Swahili works of art namely Kisima cha Giningi/The well at Giningi (Abdulla, 1968) and Hatimayanguniipi?/What is my destiny?(Chipeta, 2010). These two novels present the practice in two different ways thus attracting the attention of the reader to curiously and critically interrogate the whole practice. The two have been purposively selected as they depict the practice and have been subjected to content analysis to unearth the inherent belief concerning witchcraft and the artist's point of view concerning the same. The analysis is guided by realism and social dynamic theory. It is baffling that even with the advancement in science and technology, and even with the more practical solutions offered by major religions of the world, such a vicious practice that simply escapes human understanding still persists. As such, this analysis widens our perception of the practice of witchcraft as a persistent social practice.
Highlights
Forsyth [3] states that social dynamics theory seeks to analyse and explain forces that operate in social interactions
Swahili literature has not been short of delving into the question of superstition and African witchcraft
Similar accusations of the practice of witchcraft are to be found in Kufa Kuzikana [14] where one ethnic community accuses the other of practicing witchcraft. These few examples point to the fact that witchcraft is both a belief and practice that is not alien to Swahili literary artists writing from a realist point of view
Summary
To take a simple view of what realism is, Hawthorn [1] notes that a novel is realistic if the events recounted, the characters and the setting model everyday life. This means that whatever the artist writes about should be as close as possible to everyday experiences of people. Forsyth [3] states that social dynamics theory seeks to analyse and explain forces that operate in social interactions It seeks to explain the process of group formation, group characteristics and why people remain loyal to groups that they join. With the help of these critical approaches, the two novels are subjected to content analysis whereby events that depict witchcraft are purposively sampled and analysed
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