The Use Of Allegory In Shaaban Robert's Prose Works

Abstract

This thesis is a study of allegory in Shaaban Robert's Adili na Nduguze, kusadikika, kufikirika, Utubora Mkulima and Siku ya Watenzi wote. The term allegory is described in general. Typical allegorical texts from the Greek antiquity to the present are traced and analyzed. Allegory is a technique of creating, translating or interpreting literary works so that they convey more than one level of meaning simultaneously. Allegory operates at four levels of analysis in Shaaban Roberts prose. These are the personification, narrative, metaphorical and fabulous levels. Personification allegory is the use of proper-nouns in a descriptive way. In normal practice, proper-nouns lack literary semantic content. Most proper-nouns in Shaaban Robert's texts are used to describe qualities of persons and places. They do not necessarily work as labels that make those persons and places different from one another. At the level of narration, Robert portrays allegory as a symbolic story that serves as a disguised representation for meanings other than literal ones. it is, therefore, a study of the ways in which various elements combine in Shaaban Robert's )rose to sustain their logic both at the literal and literary levels. Extended metaphors are used sparingly. They are also allegorical because their form is narrative. Lastly, the profusion of fabulous characters and situations helps the writer to evoke a typically allegorical world. As in all figurative language, allegory depends on. the transference of meaning from one object or idea to another due to similarities between them. A hint of tenor created by the author helps to interpret an allegorical work. Allegory is also a para-linguistic literary device. Consequently, the identification and comprehension of the various ramifications of its context is important in interpreting and appreciating it. This study reveals that the use of allegory leads to a deep inslght into the author's work and wolde v iew Shaaban Robert's use of the mode is at its best in his early works, Adili na Nduguze, Kusadikika and Kufikirika, in which all aspects of allegory already identified are exhibited. Here, the author predicates the mode to his religious beliefs and uses it to preach an ethic based on his Islamic faith. Within this frame of reference, Shaaban Robert moulds flat characters who are representations of ideas in a society in which values are stable and static. This trend changes in Utubora Mkulima and siku ya Watenzi Wote. In these works, the writer gradually but firmly moves away from allegorical characters whose driving force is automation, to more realistic characters. While the ultimate 'articles of credo' of these realistic characters subscribe to the writer's idealist vision, they are immediately motivated and guided by their free-will to act the way they do. The change of Shaaban Robert's mode of presentation is consonant with his changing perspectives of the world. As he faces new and greater challenges wrought by the grim reality of his society, he questions more radically the morality on which his society is based