Pastimes and Politics Review by Choice

Possibly because of its cultural complexity, the island of Zanzibar off the eastern coast of Africa received scant anthropological attention during the colonial period when studies of the traditional “tribes” of the mainland were favored. This gap was filled relatively recently by John Middleton’s masterly The World of the Swahili (CH, Feb ’93). The situation is further improved with Fair’s excellent historical study of this island civilization during the 20th century. Her principal concern is with how the underclass, i.e., former slaves, particularly women, took advantage of the opportunities available to them to improve their social and economic status during the British colonial era. As Fair (Univ. of Oregon) demonstrates, the inhabitants did so with innovative flair by resorting to popular cultural mechanisms such as dress, music, and sport. With exquisite detail, each lengthy chapter demonstrates the manner in which this process was both thought and carried out. The overall result is a model of contemporary relevant scholarship. Upper-division undergraduate students and above.

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