NERVOUS CONDITIONS BY TSITSI DANGAREMBGA
By Neo Mvubu
Many have spoken volumes of an incredible woman of Africa. They have beaten their drums and ululated for a Zimbabwean queen who possesses a mighty sword; the sword of putting words onto paper. Tsitsi Dangarembga, the author of Nervous Conditions, could not have placed it any better.
The book reflects on the daily lives of the people during and after the colonial rule in Zimbabwe. The voices of her character have more depth and every one of those characters has a voice, a strong voice that cannot be ignored. Tambu the main character in the book sees her loved ones change after getting exposed to the Western culture. She sees herself also going through it when she enrolled at a mission school.
We walk a path of life with Tambu as she grows from humble beginnings to becoming an educated woman in her community. We see the pride in her mother’s eyes and also her fears after losing a son to these Western values. Her mother mentions ‘the Englishes” saying that English took her son away and that is also taking her daughter away too.
We see Babamakuru who has a burden of looking after his entire family from his earnings as a teacher, we see the pain he goes through and this is reflected in his wife, who cannot bear to see his husband go through this pain. Many at home appreciate what he does for the family but they do not understand the work that goes into providing for all those goods.
Nyasha on the other hand is Babamakuru’s child who grew up in England and spent most of her childhood at the mission school. She speaks this English that Tambu’s mother talks about vividly in the book and she forgets, she forgets her home language and forgets her childhood friend Tambu. Nyasha smokes, drinks alcohol, and does all those things that are foreign to a traditional home in Africa. She is then isolated from her larger family because she does not fit in anywhere.
We are given different perspectives in the book and Tsitsi Dangarembga, the author blends all these characters beautifully. She creatively infuses their spirits in one book and carries their souls with wisdom.
The book reminded me of when I went to a model C school, I had a coloured, Indian, white and black friends and we would all speak English. For me, there was no racism; it was just me and my friends playing. After a few years I could hardly speak Setswana fluently that was difficult for me to socialise with my own people. I was like an outcast and for many years I didn’t know why until someone said it. Throughout my high school years, I was called a snob by the same people I went to primary school with. I was in a way mocked for not knowing my home language, for being lost in transformation, in the rainbow nation.
My parents were happy I was getting a good education, they were proud that I could speak English, like there was a colonial mindset behind them that said knowing the language meant you were intelligent. I never meant to forget where I come from, I didn’t plan going to a model C school but I have a choice now and I speak Setswana and I feel that I am coming back to my roots.
Working as a journalist gave me a wake up call, I had to speak Setswana, I had or how else could I speak to a person who does not know English. I had to re-learn my home language at 19 years old, it was embarrassing at times but I did learn. Now I fit in everywhere, and I am proud to be a black woman who grew to know herself, where she comes from and what makes her who she is.
Nyasha in the book couldn’t have put my experience any clearer, she forgot where she came from. What western cultures do is belittle your own language of which language is the backbone of every culture, without it you lose your values, your ancestors, your roots and most of all you lose yourself.
I recommend every person, young or old, to read this book. It is a book that makes you remember why being rooted is so important to a human being, an African.
