Papers from a two day conference held in London, 2001.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Pat Caplan -- Modernity has been Swahili-ised : the c ase of Malindi / Susan Beckerleg -- Cultural pluralism in a coastal tow n of East Africa : a study of Bagamoyo / S.A.K. Mlacha -- "Struggling t o be modern" : recent letters from Mafia Island / Pat Caplan -- Moderni ty and the meaning of development within the Mafia Island Marine Park, Tanzania / Christine J. Walley -- The monetization of matrimonial prest ations in the Comorian Great Marriage / Francoise Le Guennec-Coppens -- Political violence, ethnicity and the agrarian question in Zanzibar / Greg Cameron -- Change, continuity and contestation : the politics of m odern identities in Zanzibar / Kjersti Larsen -- "Going with the times" : conflicting Swahili norms and values today / Mohamed Ahmed Saleh -- Political poetry among the Swahili : the Kimondo verses from Lamu / Ass ibi A. Amidu -- Taarab songs as a reflection of the changing socio-poli tical reality of the Swahili / Paul M. Musau -- Modernity or adaptabili ty? The incorporation of foreign words into Swahili poetry / José Art uro Saavedra -- From Mwana Kupona to Mwavita : representations of femal e status in Swahili literature / Farouk Topan.