Penina Muhando, also known as Penina Mlama (born 1948), is a Tanzanian

Kiswahili Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili ...

playwright, a theorist and practitioner of Theatre for Development in Tanzania.

Life and literary career

Muhando was born in Berega,

Morogoro Region Morogoro Region (''Mkoa wa Morogoro'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Ireland. Morogoro Region is border ...

in Tanzania in 1948. She gained a BA in

theatre arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, a BA in education, and a PhD in language and linguistics from the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...

. Ada U. Azodo, "Muhando, Penina", in Jane Eldredge Miller (ed.), ''Who's Who in Contemporary Women's Writing'', Routledge, 2001, pp. 226–227. Muhando was among a group of Tanzanian playwrights in the late 1960s and early 1970s who emerged in the aftermath of President

Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...

Arusha Declaration The Arusha Declaration ( sw, Azimio la Arusha) and TANU’s Policy on Socialism and Self Reliance (1967), referred to as the Arusha Declaration, is known as Tanzania’s most prominent political statement of African Socialism, ‘Ujamaa’, or ...

in 1967. ''

Ujamaa Ujamaa ( in Swahili) was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. More broadly, ujamaa may mean "cooperative economics ...

'' socialism became the guiding philosophy of the country. In this environment, theatres were discouraged from performing plays by foreign artists. Local playwrights were called upon by Nyerere to use their art as a means of disseminating the main concepts of ''ujamaa'' to the people of Tanzania and for art to serve as a means of development. Muhando faced a dilemma between writing in English and Kiswahili. Works in English would open up a global clientele but remain inaccessible to most Tanzanians who did not speak the language. Swahili would open up this national audience at the expense of the global. She decided to focus on writing in Kiswahili because she felt that theater was primarily a tool of mass communication and being accessible to the Tanzanian population was more important. Muhando's earlier works, such as ''Haitia'' (Guilt, 1972), are enthusiastic about the prospects of ''ujamaa'' socialism. However, in the late 1970s and 1980s, it began to be clear that the expectations that ''ujamaa'' had created with respect to deepening of democracy and development had not been met. Muhando, along with other writers became more critical in this period. In plays such as ''Nguzo Mama'' (Mother, the main pillar, 1982), ''Lina Ubani'' (There is an antidote for rot, 1984), and ''Mitumba Ndui'' (The Pox, 1989) she registered her disappointment by focusing on political corruption, jockeying for political power and the pursuit of personal profit over community development. In 2013, Muhando was named the chairperson of BASATA (National Arts Council) by President

Jakaya Kikwete Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under his ...

for a three-year term.

Academic career

Muhando rose to become Professor and Head of the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Dar es Salaam. She was one of the pioneers of Theatre for Development in Africa - a movement that sought to encourage marginalized people to use plays to engage in issues important to their lives within their communities and with experts. Alongside her colleague

Amandina Lihamba Amandina Lihamba (born 1944) is a Tanzanian academic, actress, playwright and theatre director. She is a professor at the University of Dar es Salaam in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and has served as its dean, head of department, an ...

, she pioneered a particularly in-depth approach with their Oxfam-funded project 'Theatre for Social Development' which took place over eighteen months in Malya, in the Mwanza region of northern Tanzania. In 1996, Muhando and Lihamba's ''Tuseme'' project worked to empower secondary school girls through theatre. Her most important publication, ''Culture and development: the popular theatre approach in Africa'' (1991), gives a historical overview of community performance and popular theatre in Tanzania, and explores the methods and practices that she developed throughout her community theatre work. She also did important work on the aesthetics of African orature.

Works

Plays

* ''Haitia'' (Guilt), 1972 * ''Tambueni haki zetu'', 1973 * ''Heshima yangu'', 1974 * ''Pambo'' (Decoration), 1975 * ''Harakati za ukombozi'' (Liberation Struggle), with

and Ndyanao Balisidya, 1982 * ''Nguzo mama'' (Mother Pillar), 1982 * ''Abjadi yetu'', 1983 * ''Lina ubani'' (Antidote to Rot), 1984 * ''Talaki si mke wangu'' (Woman, I Divorce You)

Books

* ''Fasihi na sanaa za maonyesho'' (Literature and performing arts), 1976 * ''Culture and development: the popular theatre approach in Africa,'' 1991

Articles

* 'Digubi: A Tanzanian Indigenous Theatre Form',

The Drama Review ''TDR: The Drama Review'' is an academic journal focusing on performances in their social, economic, aesthetic, and political contexts. The journal covers dance, theatre, music, performance art, visual art, popular entertainment, media, sports, r ...

, 1981 * 'Tanzania's Cultural Policy And Its Implications For The Contribution Of The Arts To Socialist Development', Utafiti, 1985 * 'Creating in the Mother-Tongue: The Challenges to the African Writer Today', ''

Research in African Literatures ''Research in African Literatures'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering African literary studies. It was established in 1970 and is published by Indiana University Press. The editor-in-chief is Kwaku Larbi Korang (Ohio State U ...

,'' 21.4, 1990,: 5-14 * 'Women's participation in Communication for Development: the popular theatre alternative in Africa', ''

,'' 1991 *'African Perspectives on Programs for North American Students in Africa: The Experience of the University of Dar es Salaam', African Issues, 2000 * 'Popular theatre and development‐challenges for the future: The Tanzanian experience', Contemporary Theatre Review, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhando, Penina 1948 births Living people Tanzanian dramatists and playwrights Women dramatists and playwrights Swahili-language writers University of Dar es Salaam alumni University of Dar es Salaam faculty Tanzanian women writers