Dancing in their own style? Philosophy in Euphrase Kezilahabi's Nagona/Mzingile and the uses of postcolonial discourse in its analysis

This paper aims to highlight the ways in which we may use certain theories of postcolonial discourse to shed light on the presence of philosophy (both African and Western) in Afrophone literary works. The analysis focuses on the magical realist Swahili novel Nagona by Euphrase Kezilahabi and how we may use selected theories of postcolonial scholar Homi Bhabha to understand Kezilahabi's discussion of philosophy. Nagona discusses classical Western philosophy at length, with prominent philosophers appearing as characters, and proceeds to suggest the formation of an African philosophy free from the historical subjugation of colonialism. Through applying Bhabha's writings on colonial epistemological restriction and mimicry to Nagona, I argue that this example proves that such theories can be vital tools in gaining a greater understanding of philosophy or philosophical thought in postcolonial Afrophone literature without resorting to the hackneyed tropes of ethnophilosophy. Whilst the title of this paper suggests the perception of postcolonial discourse as a coherent whole, I chose to focus on the theories of one scholar in order to avoid generalizations concerning this vast and varied discipline.