"Of madness and sagacity:" An intercultural dialogue between masks in Luigi Pirandello‘s and Penina Muhando’s plays (Part 1)

Abstract

This paper stems from the challenge of translating Pirandello’s plays into Swahili and is aimed to open up a polylogue between Italian and Swahili literature.  Therefore, in searching for connections between Luigi Pirandello’s and Penina Muhando’s plays, this paper will explore multiple masks engaged in a reciprocal dialogue among the following six selected plays: Enrico IV (‘Henry IV,’ Pirandello 1921); Così è, Se vi pare (‘It is so, if you think so!’ Pirandello 1917); Il Berretto a Sonagli (‘Cap and bells,’ Pirandello 1916); Pambo (‘Decoration,’ Muhando 1975); Nguzo mama (‘The Mother Pillar,’ Muhando 1982); and Lina ubani (‘An Antidote to Rot,’ Muhando 1984). In conclusion, this study will illustrate how different forms of sociohistorical alienation, which encircle the twentieth century, are stylistically represented in these plays through the characters who wear the masks of madness, or ‘sage-madness.’ To allow an in-depth analysis of the plays this study will be divided into two parts. Part one will examine Enrico IV (‘Henry IV,’ Pirandello 1921) and Pambo (‘Decoration,’ Muhando 1975).  Part Two will examine Così è, Se vi pare (‘It is so, if you think so!’ Pirandello 1917); Nguzo mama (‘The Mother Pillar,’ Muhando 1982); Il Berretto a Sonagli (‘Cap and bells,’ Pirandello 1916); and Lina ubani (‘An Antidote to Rot,’ Muhando 1984).