Shirley, Goodness and Mercy (by Chris van Wyk)
One of the categories of the Read Harder Challenge this year was books set in one of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). I decided I wanted to read about South Africa, since my mother spent her childhood (ages 2-11) there.
It is surprisingly hard to find South African literature. Born a Crime is still on my list, but I was attracted to van Wyk's memoir because he grew up in the 60s, in a township like my mother. I assumed from his last name that he was Dutch and white, and I was interested in that perspective for obvious reasons. But I learned a lot from the get-go, first off that there were three classes -- white, coloured, and black. Coloured people, like van Wyk, had mixed ancestry and was considered "coloured."
I'm glad I read it through his perspective, which jumps back and forth with individual stories, some about his family and growing up, some humorous, some about apartheid in the background, and some with apartheid front and center, particularly when he becomes older and is an author and an activist. Some of his poems are included throughout, which span from personal to political. And the idea that the first election in which non-whites could vote was in 1994, so recent, really brings it into perspective.
I was sad to read that van Wyk died a few years ago and really loved his book. I learned more about apartheid than I'd ever known before, and am left wanting to learn more and talk to my mother more about her experiences there.
A side note, I learned the word kaffir, which was a derogatory term for blacks in South Africa. At the same time, my mother found an old photo album of my grandmother's, and in it is a picture of her smiling "kaffirmaid." I remember conversations with my grandmother about her experiences (after all, she was an adult and understood much more about what was going on) but she died almost 20 years ago. What I wouldn't give to have another one of those conversations with her today -- for so many reasons.
Next: Born a Crime, and any non-fiction books about apartheid you can recommend!
It is surprisingly hard to find South African literature. Born a Crime is still on my list, but I was attracted to van Wyk's memoir because he grew up in the 60s, in a township like my mother. I assumed from his last name that he was Dutch and white, and I was interested in that perspective for obvious reasons. But I learned a lot from the get-go, first off that there were three classes -- white, coloured, and black. Coloured people, like van Wyk, had mixed ancestry and was considered "coloured."
I'm glad I read it through his perspective, which jumps back and forth with individual stories, some about his family and growing up, some humorous, some about apartheid in the background, and some with apartheid front and center, particularly when he becomes older and is an author and an activist. Some of his poems are included throughout, which span from personal to political. And the idea that the first election in which non-whites could vote was in 1994, so recent, really brings it into perspective.
I was sad to read that van Wyk died a few years ago and really loved his book. I learned more about apartheid than I'd ever known before, and am left wanting to learn more and talk to my mother more about her experiences there.
A side note, I learned the word kaffir, which was a derogatory term for blacks in South Africa. At the same time, my mother found an old photo album of my grandmother's, and in it is a picture of her smiling "kaffirmaid." I remember conversations with my grandmother about her experiences (after all, she was an adult and understood much more about what was going on) but she died almost 20 years ago. What I wouldn't give to have another one of those conversations with her today -- for so many reasons.
Next: Born a Crime, and any non-fiction books about apartheid you can recommend!
Labels: 2018 read harder challenge, kindle, memoir, nonfiction, poetry
posted by mo pie at 11:14 AM
1 Comments:
I really liked the Kramer and Zondi police procedural mystery books I've read. https://www.goodreads.com/series/63857-kramer-and-zondi-mystery. Written in the 70s and set I think in the 60s in South Africa. Kramer is an interesting bastard.
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