DALKA (1965-1969) Relaunch

[Ubax45_]

Dalka was launched on the fifth anniversary of Somalia's independence on 1 July 1965, as a current affairs magazine in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Owned and edited by Yousuf Duhul—a UK-trained Somali lawyer in private practice—the monthly (later bimonthly) proved popular with the educated and literate classes. The publication, as the editor recalled decades later, was in all respects ‘a child of its time’ (1). This fact was reflected no less in its very name which, to the Somali ear, evokes positive connotations of ‘the homeland’ (2) and which, to the generation who still recall flicking through its pages almost half a century ago, is synonymous with “the good old days!” By its very existence, the journal epitomized the euphoria which swept across the Africa in the 1960s, in which the continent's newly-independent citizens (the editor and contributors no less) placed high hopes on the grand possibilities self governance would hold for their people.

That these writers devoted so many lines to the censure, not only of the government and the Parliament but also their individual members, could only have been welcomed. Unsurprisingly, as one of those ‘peripherally’ involved in the publication recently told me, Dalka soon proved to be a ‘thorn in their [i.e. politicians'] side’, scrutinizing their activities—and more often than not, lacking dutifulness in discharging their responsibilities. Although it often made very uncomfortable reading for the nation's politicians, it was perhaps to their credit that despite having the power to inhibit it, it was only much later that the powers that be pursued such a course.

Still, since Somali democracy was still a largely untested creature by the mid-1960s, most contributors wrote from behind the veil of pseudonyms. This was perhaps a decision largely driven by pragmatism: since many of them worked for the government and wrote their criticisms of it by night, the authors quite naturally did not want their articles to imperil their employment.

Past Issue:

Re-launch: http://www.dalka-magazine.com/

 

[merka]

Way better than Xiddigta Oktoobar :siilaanyosmile:

 

[Striker]

yes we need another dictatorship.

Dictatorship is the only way to grow a successful nation.

And we need a one party group

 

[Grant]

I wonder how many copies were printed? Not that many people in the South could read English in those days. Some of the articles were in afSomali, but that wasn't standardized until 1972. I remember treasuring the couple of copies I had, but they have disappeared.

 

[felloff]

they must of had high hopes for somalia

 

[Haroon]

It's pleasing to see the interest generated by the recent publication of New Dalka!

In answer to the question posed, I don't have any figures or any other information on circulation apart from what can be gleaned from extant copies of the Dalka from the 1960s. I have copies of the first five issues (they were bound and reprinted in 1997: more on this below). The editorial of the second issue (August 1965) then might help to answer your question, since it notes that the first issue had been sold out in three days; 1,200 copies in Mogadishu and 500 in Hargeisa.

Certainly, given the level of literacy in the country at the time, especially when one considers how many would have been able to read English, these numbers seem very respectable figures. Even then, I suspect each copy would have been read, at the very least, by more than one person. Certainly, in the south, Italian was more widely spoken (and read) than English for the obvious reason of the colonial administration there having been done in the former. For that reason, an Italian-language magazine called La Tribuna was just as popular with Italophones and was seen as competition for its English-language opposite number, Dalka.

Grant, it's a shame that you no longer have copies of the original. As noted above, HAAN Press published a reprint of the first five issues, twenty years ago this year. You can gain access to them through Peppercorn Books. Follow this link: http://www.peppercornbooks.com/cata...=1824&osCsid=e9102eea98709128d04e2ad9b77able7

Best wishes,
Haroon