100 african appropriations
will go on is heard, and if you like you can sing along” (vol. 3: 31). And as
if to lay open how faithfully he copies the movie, he inserts a film still
of this iconic scene next to his adaptation of it (vol. 3: 32; see figures 3.3
and 3.4).
Even in terms of the more explicit romantic scenes between Rose and
Jack, Mtani stays faithful to his template. This is remarkably different
from the Nigerian video film and suggests a social context that is slightly
more liberal about depicting nudity. W hen Jack draws Rose naked, Mtani
even adds considerable eroticism, showing Rose in a transparent negligee
before she undresses. Compared to the length of the equivalent sequence
in the movie, Mtani devotes more space to showing her in the nude. Com-
pared to so-called Katuni za mapenzi, a Tanzanian genre of “love com-
ics” with explicit imagery, however, Mtani’s nude scene is rather modest.
Since this genre was prolific when Mtani drew his Mkasa wa mapenzi, his
modesty has to be viewed as a conscious decision, and in an interview
with Beez (2007) he indeed criticizes such comics for seeking merely to
titillate while lacking any educational value. According to Mtani, comic
art, like any other art, should entertain and educate. With regard to his
Titanic adaptation, I suggest that similar to James Cameron, Mtani uses
the love story as an entertaining lead-in to the historical tragedy, and it is
this educational story he really wants to tell.
Mtani’s interest in the historical event may well be explained by the
close parallels between the Titanic’s demise and a local tragedy of compa-
rable dimension that occurred on Lake Victoria only a year before Cam-
eron’s film was released, a tragedy which foreign observers almost imme-
diately labeled “Tanzania’s ‘Titanic’ disaster” (Britain-Tanzania Society
1996: 13). In the early hours of May 21, 1996, the M.V. Bukoba ferry cap-
sized about thirty minutes offshore from Mwanza, the country’s second
largest city and Amandus Mtani’s hometown. There were an estimated
800 passengers aboard, almost double the steamer’s capacity. Overloading
and improper storage of cargo, in combination with a long-ignored stabil-
ity problem, were later identified as the main causes of the disaster. The
capsized vessel had remained floating on the surface for more than half
a day. Inexperienced rescue teams cut a hole into the hull to free surviv-
ing passengers still trapped inside. As a result, the air that had kept the
hull afloat was released, causing the ship to go down (Britain-Tanzania