Swahili Epic Literature
Domain:
natural language processingRecord type:
paper
Creator:
Lyn
Publisher:
Cam
Host:
The Swahili people are unique among the Bantu of East Africa in possessing an heritage of written literature of considerable range and antiquity. The earliest reasonably authentic examples consist of mashairi , song-poems, attributed to Liongo Fumo, prince of Ozi, c . A.D. 1150–1200. Many of the well-known mashairi were impromptu compositions of the minstrels who vied with one another at the songtourneys.