African women and the burden of creative writing

By Christine Mautjana

It is rather exciting that many young South African Black women interested in arts and culture now regard me as something of a role model after I published my first book – which is actually a series of interviews with writers. Many are putting me on a pedestal, which I do not deserve.

The truth is I am just like everybody else – largely ignorant, but willing to learn. I must confess that I used to be very intimidated too as regards literature in particular until I mixed with academics, even professors, and discovered that even they were very ignorant in certain spheres. How much more myself?

As a woman the scope and breadth of literature, in Africa specifically is breathtaking. I am happy to have contributed my small quota in this wise but it is just a humble beginning. The first obstacle is that I am quite young and I have to do my research about the literary past but even this can only be tentative. Also, should one focus on South Africa alone (narrow-minded, really) or Africa? I prefer our continent when it comes to our writers.

But let us start with female writers. Perhaps black female writers. As a South African woman I know now that our icons include illustrious names like Miriam Tlali, Lauretta Ngcobo, Sindiwe Magona. I have tried to at least read samples of their work.

Mama Ngcobo is very polished and suave; Magona strikes me as a woman who has performed miracles – somehow overcoming great poverty during apartheid (including three young kids) to travel overseas and become one of our great writers. Read her early works and how she struggled to feed her kids and you burst into tears; not to talk of the lot of “domestics” over the years…

Then there are other great black African female writers, including those living overseas. From neighbouring Zimabawe the late Yvonne Vera, and Tsitsi Dangarembga have gone down in history. What about Buchi Emecheta and (the young) Helen Oyeyemi – both based in London – who are already part of English literary canon?

As women there is also this impediment of feminism. Women these days are expected to be beating the drum of women’s rights and all that goes with it; but unfortunately this can be counter-productive. Feminism is a complex series of ideas that can be confusing. Let us not confuse this with a fringe male minority doing terrible things to women (eg rape) What do women want? True lasting love; or just exploiting men?

This brings Nadine Gordimer to my mind, the first African (and South African woman) to win the Nobel Award for Literature. She has over the years been criticized for allegedly not supporting women’s rights or feminism which is absurd. Her literary achievements speak for themselves. It seems to me that the great lady is being attacked for nothing. What do women really want? Are we losing or gaining from this so-called feminism?

I mean I am proud to be a black woman. In South Africa women continue to perform wonders, including very young and young women. We see how we work so hard to develop ourselves, take care of our loved ones. Yes there are some obstacles but should we exaggerate them? Can we in all honesty say that our sex counts against us? Are there not so many outstanding women doing great things in their field, including literature? Like Angela Makholwa a relatively new outstanding black female writer.

In my book, there are many black Free State writers featured. They include Nthabiseng jah Rose Jafta who is now making waves (with two female poets) after putting together the book, Free State of mind. Three bright black young ladies. Can we accuse them of not grabbing opportunities open to them? No.

(Christine Mautjana is the editor of the book, Interviews with Effervescent Writers. Mbali Press. 2012)

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

Free State of mind - a review

Book:: Free State of Mind


Authors: Nthabiseng Jafta, Rita Chihawa and Lebo Leisa

Publisher: Jah Rose Productions

Reviewed by Sabata-mpho Mokae

Three Bloemfontein-based poetesses; Nthabiseng Jafta, Rita Chihawa and Lebo Leisa have collaborated in a new poetry anthology, Free State of Mind. The title of the anthology is derived from the name of their home province, the Free State.

The title, to begin with, indicates that the trio are to present to the reader a no-punches-spared, unrestricted poetry.

In her poem, Brown bag, Jafta relates the story of an ordinary woman whose strengths are often overlooked because she is unassuming. The poem can be said to be a tribute to that woman.

“She took her time to open her brown bag/ that she heavily carried on her back/ long distances she would walk/ to home from work.”

Then in another poem, Another brown bag, which can be said to be another side of the coin, if not a sequel to the first, Jafta tells of another woman. This time, an urban dweller with no strings like children attached to her.

Both poems speak to the varied faces of womanhood.

Chihawa says that she was inspired by other women in her life; her mother and sisters.

“I observed how they went through different phases of their lives, how they overcame challenges and how they kept the tradition of sisterhood flowing.”

Most of her poems in this anthology speak of love; how it is elusive and longed for.

In a poem, Oh! I loved that man, she writes:

“With this black pen/ I will write my love for him/ I see him in my dreams/ To awake him not being here/ life is unfair/ he left . . .”

But she also pays tribute to womanhood. In a poem, Women of strength, she urges women to be strong because “nobody said it’s going to be easy”.

The trio are unapologetically feminist in their presentation. They challenge the status quo and established notions. They attempt to awaken a woman by opening her eyes to the strengths she possesses.

Leisa addresses a woman who was abandoned as a child in a poem, Thula Sana. She is wondering “where is her mother/ to hold her hand”.

In the introduction, a well-known poet/playwright Napo Masheane addresses the concept of ‘black women writings’. She hopes that the label would fall off and that people would also stop saying that it is ‘angry’ poetry.

“There is something powerful when women voices come together like a spider’s 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.”

Masheane also quotes from Maya Angelou.

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

The three poetesses have a song that they hope to get their audience to sing with them. Their stories, as contained and presented through their poems, are intertwined. This is mainly because of their shared background – all are black women who were raised in the time of freedom in South Africa.

It is therefore expected that they would add to the tradition of post-apartheid women’s poetry. Their politics are closer to home than that of their predecessors. To them the struggle is more innate. The personal is political.

That the trio also performs on stage, their to-and-fro migration from page to stage and vice versa seem effortless and relatively successful. Like all performed poems, most of their poems are easy on the ear just as they can engage the reading audience.

There are also some poems written in Sesotho and some carrying titles in Nguni languages.

O Bolaji writes in the foreword that this book is a ‘literary repast’.

This is one hell of a good book. Not only for women, but for all genders and races.

Charles Matorera unfurls new newspaper, BOTHO NEWS

A new newspaper, Botho News has been unveiled and launched in the Free State. The paper is the brainchild and product of Charles Matorera who is a creative writer, essayist, critic, and musician. Charles says: “All my life I have been interested in literacy and literature. This is a dream come true for me. The paper will continue to be relevant and interesting. People must read a lot; and variety is one of the spices of life!” The debut edition of Botho News contains snippets of news, sport, and literature. A superb story written by precocious FS author, Teboho Masakala, is published in the first edition. “The paper will have a regular segment on FS writers and their work - on our powerful literature,” Matorera vouchsafed. The paper, and its supremo, can be contacted via 0839887738

NGUGI IN THE FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA

By DINEO MOKGOSI No matter how we look at it, Africa has come a long way from the days of near continental bondage to Europe, said Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o as he delivered the Africa Day Memorial Lecture at the University of the Free State (UFS) on Friday, May 28. “We celebrate Africa Day today in the context of over 60 years of Africa’s independence going to that of Morocco, Libya, Sudan and Ghana, all in the fifties to the present. “If the independence of Ghana is the more memorable in terms of its impact, it was because on the continent, it was first identifiably, unmistakably and unambiguously black nation to wrest independence from Europe,” Thiong’o said. He said Ghana was unique in that Kwame Nkrumah linked the independence of Ghana to that of the rest of the continent and had said Ghana’s uhuru was incomplete as long as the rest of the continent was not free. “In Nkrumah’s eyes the continent could not live with one part free and the other enslaved, a stance reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln, in a statement in the American civil war, that the nation could not endure half free and half enslaved. No leader of the already independent nation including nation building Liberia or the never colonized Ethiopia had ever linked the destiny of their country to that of the continent,” he said. He went on to say that Nkrumah and Nyerere assumed the integrity of the continent and took responsibility for Africa as a whole, a vision already assumed in the anthem Nkosi Sikelele Africa, whose lyrics and melody became the nearest thing to an African anthem. Thiong’o said despite Africa having the only two countries –South Africa and Libya- that have voluntarily given up a nuclear programme, Africa is still not accorded respect in terms of its position in the world as a major power play. “When NATO powers recently attacked and bombed Libya to submission, they were completely oblivious to the feeling and opinions of the African Union. It’s not a question of what one thinks of Kadafi; it’s the blatant almost arrogant disregard of the opinion of the AU, that stood out, in the unfolding drama enacted under the fig leaf cover of a United 4 nations resolutions, a situation not too dissimilar to the killing of Lumumba in the 1960’s. “Would this have happened if Africa had a united muscle to flex? Coincidence or not, the loudest drum beat for war came from France and Britain, both with a colonial and slave past, which means that their attitude to Africa is coloured by their experience of the past master-servant relationship to the continent,” Thiong’o said. He added that if ‘we’ want to know the standing of Africa in the world today, one does not need to question Africa’s seat in the security council or dramatic acts of military intervention but just to look at the attitudes towards blackness in Africa and the world today. “While others may bear the blame for this, Africa is also culpable in the negative standing of blackness in the world” Prof Thiong’o related his own experiences as a black writer having attended a conference for black writers at the Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda where many writers were often afraid to classify themselves as ‘black writers’. “When I came to see how African writing was often critiqued as lesser than or ‘good enough considering’,or that it was anthropology not literature, I begun to understand why some people would want to disclaim the label black or African, their way of clamoring to be judged by the same aesthetic criteria as any other writers. “I am aware that no writer sits down to see whether every word, sentence or image they put down is black enough; or to consciously erase the memory of experience that shaped the writer so that he or she can write like a writer. But there are moments when I want to stand on roof tops, tear off my clothes, and proclaim I am black writer, holding a banner with the words: I write primarily in an African language, Gikuyu; what of my fiction you now read in English is largely translation from the Gikuyu original. There are other moments when, even if I wanted to be just a writer, no drama of tearing off clothes and holding banner aloft, I am reminded of the fact of blackness: my blackness as a black writer,” the aging professor said. Prof Thiong’o related another story of racial intolerance directed towards him in America. One as a guest at a hotel wherein he was told to his face that the facility he was using was for “guests only” and the other incident occurred whilst in a queue at an ATM to withdraw money. Here, he was approached by a white man who demanded to go before him as he (Ngugi) was collecting a “welfare cheque”. Prof Thiong’o said it was the “absolute certainty” of these gentlemen that made him feel uneasy. “That self-certainty can condemn any one to early death. In that sense race would seem to trump class. The certainty is based on a negative profile of blackness taken so much for granted as normal that it no longer creates a doubt,” the Prof said He avowed that the perception and self-perception of blackness as negative is spread and intensified in the images of everyday; in the West, TV clips to illustrate famine, violent crimes and ethnic warfare, tend to draw from dark faces. “In commercials, TV dramas, in the cinema, one hardly ever sees a really dark person portraying beauty and positivity. A concession to blackness stops at various shades of light skin. No wonder this result in a knee jerk rejection of the African body,” he said. The professor said the negativity around blackness manifests itself in other ways such as where an African leader addresses a nation and for the sake of the ‘British and American’ ambassadors on the dais; they make the speech in English or French. This he said was because African leaders often associated European Languages with formality, dignity, serious discourse on the state of the nation, and African Languages with coarse speech, abuse and ridicule. “This negative perception and self-perception has roots in the history of enslavement and colonization. “The biggest sin, then, is not that certain groups of white people, and even the West as a whole, may have a negative view of blackness embedded in their psyche, the real sin is that the black bourgeoisie in Africa and the world should contribute to that negativity and even embrace it by becoming participants or shareholders in a multibillion industry built on black negativity. If it was a case of a few social foibles here and there, it would not matter, but in a post-colonial situation, the internalized negative view of the black body can have fatal consequences. “The images we have of each other, the images of self, the images we have of the world and history can often blind us not into seeing that reality,” he said. He said for Africa to heal, the African middleclass must give up the looting mentality inherited from the colonial era and political mercenary must give way to political visionary. He continued to say that Africa must rediscover and reconnect with Nkrumah’s dreams of a politically and economically united Africa, rooted in the working of people of Africa. “If we brought together the might of our African and global presence, there’s nothing that could stop Africa being an equal player in the globe. The world begins at home and home begins inside the castle of one’s skin,” said the Professor.

NGUGI IN BLOEMFONTEIN

All-time great African writer, Ngugi wa Thiong'o graced the University of Free State where he delivered an illuminating lecture. Throngs of academics, writers, and admirers turned up for the occasion. Ngugi was delighted to receive a copy of author Pule Lechesa's latest book, Essays on Free State Black Literature, where Lechesa confesses on the blurb that Ngugi has been a key literary influence in his life since he was a kid. (In photo below: Ngugi, second from right; and Lechesa, far right)

MATHENE MAHANKE REVIEWS 'FREE STATE OF MIND'

By Mathene Mahanke 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...

Thank you, Programme Director, ladies and gentlemen. May I express my gratitude for being afforded the opportunity to be one of the first people to express an opinion on the freshly ground work of the three ladies who have birthed an addition to the literary family of the Free State province. I am humbled to stand in front of the audience of this magnitude and say words that cannot be compared to the voice of reason in the book, Free State Of Mind. Thank you, Nthabiseng. Enkosi Rita. Ke a leboha, Lebo. As a literary critic, I am always guided by the literary theories so as to contextualize my appraisal. I must confess, after glossing through the book... which was handed to me only yesterday.... I could not immediately think of any particular theory. Because it is a book written by women one would be tempted to rush for the feminist approach. But one immediately thinks, is it not demeaning to say these are women, and they should think like women. Are we not retracing our steps that led to the emergence of the very theory to the exclusion of other aspects? I would rather look at it from the perspective of a Womanist literary theory. This is a term used by Alice Walker to discribe a theory that looks at the perspectives and experiences of a black woman. Reading through this book one is confronted with strong words that, at times, suggest anger..., but, in the introduction Napo says, “I think the day the world stops to box ‘the black women writings’, or label it as angry ... more women will write and be in a ‘Free State Of Expression.’ ... To ensure that any writing by women take it’s deseved place in the literature of South Africa and the world I think we should heed Napo’s call. In the light of the above, I would, therefore, locate the writings of our three authors in a free state of mind, without undue conformity to any particular set of rules. I would also encourage whoever ventures a review of their work to be careful not to apply a single theory to the exclusion of others. Let me make an example of how any literary theory could be deployed to unearth the treasures hidden behind the words and phrases put together by Nthabiseng, Rita and Lebo. Russian Formalism would address the literariness in each poem where we see beautiful metaphors in the hands of these women crafters. The opening line reads: I yearn like a coloured butterfly to fluff away in a song In this line we are afforded an opportunity to peep inside the mind and soul of the author, or I’ll say authors as this piece is co-authored, to see with our imaginative eyes the quest to break lose and be free spirited young women... free of all inhibitions and man made impediments. The words that come out are likened to a song because it will not just be a haphazard junk, but it will be words selected to make an intended impact, and packaged to appeal to the ear of the listener. In the same line the words are likened to a butterfly which gracefully moves from one flower to another.... But, mark this, this is not ordinary, dull butterfly. Like the flowers it visit it also has colour; meaning that it blends well with the flowers... The metaphor can be stretched further: While the butterfly moves from one flower to another we marvel at the beauty produced by the colourfulness of the butterfly and that of the flowers. We are, most of the time, not aware that the butterfly is carrying pollen from one flower to another, cross-pollinating the flowers for reproduction, multiplication and increase... What a beautiful metaphor, right at the beginning... This is poetry. It comprises of two elements: What the poets want to communicate... and how they communicate it. And like a livewire this trend runs through this book setting every idea alive and brightening every dark corner with a metaphor. The night is short, Mr Programme Director. I would have, otherwise gone on to analyse each and every poem on the basis of the communicative devices that turn words into poetic lines and make these young women artists who, with the formless clay would create a structured work of art. Suffice to say, ladies and gentlemen, poetry is more difficult to write than any other genre because the literariness in poetry means the ability to handle language at different levels while not losing meaning and sense. As I stated earlier, the work cannot be seen from a Formalist point of view only. A cursory look at the book said to me all theories applied will unearth the formidable nature of the book, Free State of Mind as a work of art. We could look at it from the point of view of the Sociology of literature which is a branch of literature that examines the relationship between the literary works and their social contexts. This would assist to understand how the mind of a young woman perceives the world.... They are poets, but they are human beings also. This is what they say about men: Rita is 'jilted'; and she tell the man where to get off: Because he has the power to crumble my heart into pieces Just like all of these diseases Fatal and harmful I thought that he was cool Little did I know that he would stoop this low? Well, he does not want me anymore! Lebo is puzzled by men who do not make any move, and does not hesitate to tell them of their unmanly behaviour: Athe banna ba kae, banna ba motseng Banna ba ho ithoka bo? Senyamo se, se mpheta le hoja ke itlhatswitse Ke le dikonkosi Ha ho lekopokopo ho koposela, ke re metsi a pula ho lelemela Tjhe! Le ha ke le mobe ke le ya kgesehang Ha ho ya nthonakang? Jah Rose, cautions young women to define limits in love relationships and be wary of men who are only interested in deflowering them. She calls such a man, molemi, one who plants without caring for the garden. Poetically put she says: There are plenty ways to have fun I may even loosen up at times Not with my rose Thank you.