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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Catholic Father and the Elusive Mau Mau General: A Study of Father Ottavio Sestero's Novel 'L'Inafferrabile Mau Mau' (1957) |
Author: | Pugliese, Cristiana |
Year: | 2002 |
Periodical: | Journal of African Cultural Studies |
Volume: | 15 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | December |
Pages: | 149-158 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Kenya |
Subjects: | Mau Mau novels Literature, Mass Media and the Press nationalism History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft |
About person: | Ottavio Sestero |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369681022000042628 |
Abstract: | This article examines 'L'inafferrabile Mau Mau' (The elusive Mau Mau), which was published in 1957 by Ottavio Sestero, a Consolata priest who eyewitnessed the Emergency years in Kenya. His novel describes the hunt for the 'Mau Mau' leader Dan Kima - inspired by the historical figure of Dedan Kimaathi - and his friendship with a British Catholic priest, Father Richard. Numerous fictional works have been and still are being published on the Mau Mau period. Some, written by Western authors to endorse the colonial settlers' ideology; others, written by Kenyans, can be broadly divided into those that support the loyalists' views and those that celebrate the Mau Mau cause. 'L'inafferrabile Mau Mau' does not fit into any of the above categories and presents a different perspective on the movement, that of an insider - a man who knew the Gikuyu language and spent thirty years among the Gikuyu people - but who, as an Italian, was at the same time a foreigner, an outsider, whose views did not necessarily coincide with those expressed by most British officials and settlers. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |