Jasmin Mahazi

Dr. Jasmin Mahazi is a Research Fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin, where she has been working since 2022 on her DFG-funded research project 'Bahari yetu (Our ocean/genre): A matrifocal anthropological study of oral archives and embodied knowledge practices along the Swahili coast.' Her work focuses on the Western Indian Ocean region, particularly the Swahili coast, examining knowledge practices through a matrifocal ethnographic lens.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology (magna cum laude) from the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies at Freie Universität Berlin (2019), with a dissertation titled 'An Anthropology of the Verbal Text and Context of Vave – a Bajuni Farmer's Ritual on the Swahili Coast.' She also holds an MA in African Studies, Arabic Studies, and Anthropology from the University of Bayreuth (2008).

Dr. Mahazi's research centers on the Swahili concept of 'bahari,' which simultaneously means 'genre' and 'ocean,' exploring how oral art forms like ngoma (music and dance performances) serve as sites of knowledge. Her work examines how local experts—such as healers, teachers, poets, and oral art performers—collect, preserve, transmit, and produce Swahili knowledge genres. A key aspect of her research employs a matrifocal lens to counter patriarchal biases in African studies, centering female-generated moral and political philosophy in Muslim societies.

Her publications reveal a consistent focus on Swahili oral literature, particularly the vave ritual of Bajuni farmers, with research spanning linguistic analysis, ritual practices, and colonial sound archives. Her work demonstrates interdisciplinary connections between anthropology, linguistics, religious studies, and cultural preservation, with a strong emphasis on non-Eurocentric epistemologies and collaborative research approaches that include local experts as colleagues.

Throughout her career, Dr. Mahazi has been deeply involved in language teaching, serving as a Swahili language instructor at multiple German universities including Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt University, and the University of Bayreuth. She has also contributed to museum work as a Swahili cultural advisor and collaborated on various research projects examining Swahili poetry, oral traditions, and colonial archives.

Her research methodology emphasizes collaborative approaches, working with local communities and experts as equal partners. She has organized and co-organized numerous workshops and conferences, particularly focusing on Swahili poetry, oral literature, and colonial sound archives, demonstrating her commitment to creating platforms for diverse voices and interpretations in academic research.