Reading, Writing, and Respectability
Reading, Writing, and Respectability
The article discusses the development of literacy among schoolgirls in Zanzibar from the opening of the first colonial girls' school in 1927 to the start of the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. In particular, the shift from a traditional oral culture to a more modern literate culture is traced in the changing subjectivity and notions of gender and respectability ("heshima" in Swahili) among Zanzibari adolescent girls. The role of Islamic education is discussed, as is the education of girls in both writing and speaking English, Swahili, and Arabic.
CITATION: Decker, Corrie. Reading, Writing, and Respectability . : African Studies Centre, Boston University , . International Journal of African Historical Studies,Vol.43,no.1 (2010),pp.89-114 - Available at: https://library.au.int/reading-writing-and-respectability-3