Kakuma Is Not Swahili for “Nowhere”: Narratives of the Host Community and the Meaning of a False Translation

Auteurs-es

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.41731

Mots-clés :

Kakuma, Kenya, host community , meaning-making, narrative

Résumé

Cet article examine la déclaration fréquemment utilisée, mais erronée selon laquelle le mot Kakuma, soit le site d’un grand camp de réfugiés, signifie « nulle part » en Swahili. L’article retrace les origines et la propagation de cette fausse traduction et explique la manière dont Kakuma est en réalité depuis longtemps « quelque part » pour le peuple Turkana. L’affirmation « nulle part » ne fait de sens que lorsque Kakuma est comparé à « quelque part », qui s’appuie à son tour sur des hiérarchies établies depuis longtemps opposant la tradition à la modernité ou les pays sous-développés aux pays développés. Ainsi, au moyen de la déclaration « nulle part », la région et le peuple Turkana sont relégués à la prémodernité. Cette étude vise à mieux comprendre d’où proviennent les récits émanant des réfugiés et des communautés d’accueil ou les concernant, pourquoi ceux-ci sont acceptés, et les répercussions possibles de ces récits.

Statistiques

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Biographie de l'auteur-e

Brett Shadle, Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies, Virginia Tech, USA

Brett Shadle is Professor of African History and Director of the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies at Virginia Tech. He can be reached at shadle@vt.edu.

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Publié-e

2026-06-09

Comment citer

Shadle, B. (2026). Kakuma Is Not Swahili for “Nowhere”: Narratives of the Host Community and the Meaning of a False Translation. Refuge : Revue Canadienne Sur Les réfugiés , 41(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.41731

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