Sensing Swahili aesth-ethics with and through Mzee Farouk Topan’s wor(l)dings

Abstract

In this chapter I argue that intellectual biography as a western scientific method does not allow us to sense Swahili wor(l)ds, because it assumes life (bio-) and (written) work (-graphy) to be separate, primordial entities. In this view, authors and their intellectuality exist prior to—and therefore separately from—their work, and their biographies can be written ‘at a distance’ by somebody else. What if bio- and -graphy were, instead, inseparable and co-constitutive of the ‘becoming intellectual’? How could we then humbly attempt to sense the unfolding becoming of intellectuals with and through their work? Exploring these questions, I engage with Mzee Farouk Mohamed Hussein Tharia Topan’s intellectuality through the Swahili tradition of wasifu, which is not just a fixed and delimitating literary biography compendium. Rather it encompasses a long poetic tradition in oral narrations, and, importantly, it is born across the Indian Ocean, carrying a sense of belonging that is uniquely and specifically Swahili. After introducing the concepting that co-constitutes my reflection, I will attempt to share how I was touched by, and, in reverse, could touch the words of Mzee Farouk in the ways of wasifu, an experience of sensing Swahili aesth-ethics that emerges through his own wor(l)dings (wordings and worldings).