Pule Lechesa refuses to be carried away by the hype over Free State of mind

In his ground breaking masterpiece, The anatomy of female power, the great African intellectual, Chinweizu explains the awesome covert and overt methods women utilise to get their way.

These methods often result in males being somewhat brainwashed and definitely brow-beaten to toe the line. Alas, the responses to the book, Free State of mind show that not even literature is immune from this influence!

It is almost pitiable when a literary protagonist like Mathene Mahanke admits in his appraisal of the book thus:
“As a literary critic, when one is confronted with a fresh publication of the calibre of ‘Free State of Mind’ from the pens of three women of a reputable pedigree - Nthabiseng JahRose Jafta,Rita Chihawa and Lebo Leisa - with the introduction written by a fascinating poetess, and the foreword by a literary giant, one gets intimidated.... One gets intimidated when Napo Masheane says “There is something powerful when women voices come together like a spider web. Because once the spider’s web has begun to weave its base... God, the universe and our ancestors send a thread. There is something magical, almost unbelievable when hands of women find words between their fingers...” Programme Director, ladies and gentlemen, one gets intimidated when Omoseye Bolaji says, “These are powerful female voices and bards who have a lot to say, encapsulating and ventilating their experience in a manner we must all learn from. Hearken them!” .... It’s intimidating...”

Intimidation! What a confession. It is a sad day indeed when critics are inadvertently swayed from following the path of integrity. The most sickening review quote on this book was by poet Hector Kunene who wrote
inter alia –

“This work is a scintillating piece of art, a buffet of healing herbs, a gigantic step to make a declaration of militant statement, a pillar of strength indeed for women...”

But thereafter there is nothing in his review to justify such high praise, no salient examples from the text, the poems, to whet the appetite. Such gushing, childish praise drags our literature into the gutter.

Sabata-Mpho Mokae also finds himself joining the chorus of praise-singers. He rehashes what others have said about the book, eg Napo Masheane who claims, "There is something powerful when women's voices come together...there is something magical, almost unbelievable..."

Yet the fact is that there is nothing magical about this work. The poems here are essentially simple and average. The only magic here is managing to intimidate and hoodwink so many reviewers!

We are also reminded that Bolaji describes this work as a "literary repast" - I indicated years ago in one of my books that Bolaji has always been prone to over-praise female writers, a tendency the late, great Katherine Mansfield disliked in many male writers. But is it not part of the general intimidation?

If we look beyond the hype, the truth is that three young ladies have come together to publish their fair poems. There is nothing earth-shaking about their poetry, nothing that warrants going into raptures, or over- praising their book.

I do not believe much of this work is real poetry. For example, lines like –

“ She took her time to open her brown bag, that she


heavily carried on her back, long distances to walk....

“With this black pen, I will write my love for him,
I see him in my dreams...”

Need we pretend that that this is quintessential poetry?...

Rather, let us just encourage the ladies to keep on progressing. They are far from being the finished
article, no matter how much we might be intimidated!

References

1. The anatomy of female power. By Chinweizu. Published by Pero Press. 1990

2. The evolution of Free State Black writing. By Pule Lechesa. Phoenix Press. 2006.

3. The collected letters of Katherine Mansfield. Oxford, Clarendon, 1984.

1987

- Pule Lechesa