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This paper examines how Abdulrazak Gurnah critiques the nation-rebuilding efforts in Zanzibar post-revolution through literary techniques.

A Historicisation of the Zanzibar (Post) Revolutionary Era: Counterfactual Strategies in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Admiring Silence

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Analyzes counterfactual strategies in Admiring Silence, highlighting satire in Zanzibar's post-revolution history.

This paper examines how Abdulrazak Gurnah critiques the nation-rebuilding efforts in Zanzibar post-revolution through literary techniques.
Analyzes Gurnah's Admiring Silence as an alternate-history novel.
Applies Catherine Gallagher’s Counterfactualism theory to interpret literary strategies.
Focuses on peripheral characters to critique Zanzibar's revolutionary history.
Gurnah's use of satire reveals the flawed history justifying violence against diverse Zanzibari groups.
Literary strategies such as disnarration and fragmented memories expose the coercive practices in nation-rebuilding.
The paper concludes that counterfactualism offers pathways for healing historical violence.

Matheka et al. (2026) studied this question.

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