ASSIA DJEBAR AND AFRICAN WRITING

By Raphael Mokoena

Think about outstanding female writers from north Africa over the years. Chances are at least two female protagonists would spring to mind: the late Alifa Rifaat (from Egypt); and Assia Djebar (from Algeria), who has just died.

Assia Djebar was recognised for decades as a western-educated Algerian feminist, intellectual and spokesperson for Algerian women. Her body of powerful writing and publications reflect this.

Djebar as a top-notch intellectual ultimately won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature; and also the Yourcenar Prize. Yet she published her significant early works at a very young age, in her very early 20's - works like La Soif (1957) and Les Impatients (1958). Other works include Les Enfants du Nouveau Monde (1962) and Vaste a la Prison (1995). Djebar's works were translated into many international languages.

She was born in Cherchell, near Algiers, in 1936. Her writings were to stamp her out as essentially a defender of women's rights in her native Algeria. She achieved international renown as an academic, also going on to lecture at New York University.

Literary pundits, upon hearing of her death, have been expressing admiration and appreciation of her life and work - including the upliftment of women in North Africa in general. Leke Giwa for example states: "Assia Djebar was a brilliant writer, judging from English translations of her work. It has been quite numbing for African and international literature that she and world-class (South African writer and academic) Andre Brink died around the same time at the weekend".

Jane Hiddleston, writing about Assia Djebar, has said: “(Djebar) is "frequently associated with women's writing movements, her novels are clearly focused on the creation of a genealogy of Algerian women, and her political stance is virulently anti-patriarchal as much as it is anti-colonial,”

Suggested Reading

Islamic Culture and the question of women's human rights in North Africa: a study of short stories by Assia Djebar and Alifa Rifaat. By Naomi E. Nkealah

* This article appears in the book, Glimpses into African Literature

Omoseye Bolaji reviews Asare Konadu's A Woman in her Prime

By Omoseye Bolaji

Hark back again to the pre-colonial era again in west Africa! Pristine life in the villages, "rudimentary" approach to life complete with simple customs and tradition, belief in fetish et al.    

Author Asare Konadu depicts all this well in his quite well known work of fiction, A woman in her
prime. Of course the village life (at Brenhoma) here knows nothing about the white man, never mind electricity and all its marvels...    

The story is weaved around a woman in the village, POKUWAA, whose life is blighted for
donkey years by an inability to have children. This is not only an anathema but a disaster in this society; as we read:    

'The first year, then the second year passed and there was no child. She remembered that this
had made her heart sad because of the people of Brenhoma. To them, to be barren was the worst to happen to a woman. The approach of her time (period) caused her apprehension every month. Seeing her blood
saddened her very deeply...'

Not that the female protagonist has no rights, or is completely suppressed in her society. In fact she has formally divorced her first two husbands because of her inability to have children by them. Her latest man (husband) is Kwadwo, by all accounts a good man, though he is already married to another woman (his first
wife).

Kwadwo goes out of his way to support Pokuwaa in her nigh-forlorn quest to at last get pregnant. We learn early in this work that he's prepared to spend a whole week with her during special rites designed to make
her pregnant; but his choice is not as easy as he makes it sound (as if his first wife is compliant):
  

 ‘He knew he was lying. The talk with his (first) wife had only resulted in a quarrel. She had protested vehemently against his spending all that week with Pokuwaa saying that she would not sell her rights to any barren woman. Kwadwo had left the house in anger. Even as he told his lie now, he was looking for shadows, fearing that his angry wife could rush in at any minute now to make trouble’.            

Although women characteristically take a back seat in the village (not being allowed to attend serious meetings) it appears their powers are more subtle than meet the eye, as we read:

‘Pokuwaa was there in the area of the meeting of the elders which decided this. She knew that the men's decisions had really come from the women and travelled with them to the meeting place...’.

In the end Pokuwaa loses all faith in the alleged all-powerful deity, Tone, and decides that if she be childless, so be it:

"I am a woman," Pokuwaa said. "And a woman does want a child; that is her nature. But if a child will not come, what can I do? I can't spend my whole life bathing in herbs..."

Ironically this is when she becomes pregnant, at long last. The exhilaration over this is initially shared with her mother and her best friend:        

‘While Pokuwaa was setting her pot down, her cloth came loose and fell  away. Her mother, who was watching her, caught her breath at the sight of her breasts and exclaimed, "Adwoa! Let me see. Let me see
something." She seized her daughter's breasts in her trembling hands.

"What is this?" She exclaimed. "Do you feel pain in them? Are they swollen?"

"Hei! She is pregnant," Koramoa (her best friend) exclaimed. "Pokuwaa!"...’

So all's well that ends well, even if some pundits might deem this as rather simplistic. The novel ends on a happy, hopeful note with a nigh-certainty that all would be well in the end. Pokuwaa is at last a very
happy woman...

The author, the late Asare Konadu was a significant and prolific Ghanaian writer during his lifetime; works like A woman in her prime show why.
* This review appears in the book, Glimpses into African Literature
 

SIXTH ANNUAL NORTHERN CAPE WRITERS FESTIVAL (2015)

By Tiisetso M Thiba

In 2015 Northern Cape under the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture hosted the 6th annual Northern Cape writer’s festival start from 26 to 28 February 2015 with the Theme of ‘The doors of learning and culture shall be opened’.

The three day event was held in front of Kimberley Library. Since the origin of the Writers Festival, the festival has been growing strength to strength each and every year said MEC of Sports, Arts and Culture Lebogang Motlhaping in an interview.

This annual event engrossed national and international writers, poets and authors to share their experience and skills with the aspiring writers in the province and far beyond.

Writers, poets and authors attracted by festival this year included the renowned Dr Don Materra, Diana Ferrus, Prof Pitika Ntuli, Sabata Mpho Mokae, Prof Lesego Malepe, James Matthews, Ipeleng Tlhankana, Iyaba Ibo Mandingo from New York.

Others included Jowhari Trahan from California, Tina Schouw and Gontsewa Chaane. From the Free State came the likes of Hector Kunene, Nthabiseng “Jah Rose” Jafta, and Charmaine Kolwane

Aficionados of Literature from different provinces in South Africa visited Kimberley to form part of the unique festival, and some of them believe that the event will be much bigger next year and attract plenty of writers and public to celebrate the event together. 

The stage was open for all writers to read from their books and poets to bless the word-lovers with the unspoken words.

“When a reader enters the pages of a book of poetry he or she enters a world when dreams transform the past into knowledge made applicable to the present, and when visions shape the present into extraordinary possibilities for the future,” A memorable quote courtesy of Aberjhani.

Round table discussions were held and directed by Dr Don Mattera and the discussion topics included creative writing process and writing in the indigenous languages to restore our mother tongues for the present and future generations. Pupils from local schools benefited from the festival by forming part of skills development programme through creative writing workshops held by writers.

Writer, author Mark Kotze was the master of the ceremony of the writers festival and he was one of the five authors who launched their books during the festival. This added to the razzmatazz and excitement.

The event ended on high note when Iyaba Ibo Mandingo read from his book ‘Sins of my father’ and veteran poets such as James Matthews, Prof Pitika Ntuli, Dr Don Materra, Diana Ferrus and Tina Schouw rendered their splendid poems and left the audiences demanding for more!
* This write-up appears in the book, Glimpses into African Literature

GLIMPSES INTO AFRICAN LITERATURE (Introduction)

"Glimpses into African literature" is a new book edited by critic Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga (below). It is published by Eselby Jnr Publications in South Africa. Here is the Introduction to the book:

“I truly love African literature - a passion that often makes me rather an odd man out in my society, many times. Others who should know better also try to pull me down, undermine my efforts for our continent but this is part of the tragedy of Africa.   

Nevertheless I remain undaunted by negative forces; I continue to read books, review some of them, and engage in activities that will uplift  literacy and literature in our society. I continue to be very excited about our African writers, essays and critiques and interviews on them. 

  

This latest work - a compilation of essays on many aspects of African literature over the decades - was mainly inspired by recent literary work and essays published by Mr Pule Lechesa, and Mr Omoseye Bolaji. I have been very much inspired by Lechesa's Essays on Free State Black Literature, and his Bolaji in his pomp - two excellent books.

Additionally, as a bonus I was also able to purchase and study Christine Mautjana's book, Throbbing SA Black Writing. I was very excited to see a young black woman putting such a book together; and I told myself that one day I'd do the same, publish some of my own new literary essays in a book alongside other fine critics and essayists.

I have been a Pan-Africanist for years, hence my vision is not confined only to my country, South Africa. I love reading about authors from all over our continent, and writing about them (eg my essay on east African writer, Okot p'bitek, is one of my firm favourites and is reproduced in this work.) Also I am very proud to tell the world how much I have learnt from the exquisite published works, and the guidance of Omoseye Bolaji (indeed, one or two very wicked, narrow-minded people dislike me for this, but only a fool avoids or tries to undermine pure quality). I am very happy Mr Bolaji allowed me to include and publish some of his recent literary essays in this work. I am also grateful to the others - Ntate Thiba, Ntate Mokoena, Leke Giwa, Mpikeleni Duma and Ebounge from Cameroon. It's a pity I could not include any of Lechesa's works here; as a new book by him containing his own recent work is scheduled to come out soon.

With the advent of the internet, it is easy not only to read recent essays on African writing online, but also to communicate with the authors. Would they mind if some of their essays online were published in a book? Virtually all those contacted were only too happy to co-operate. As the editor, I am grateful for such goodwill. Not that there was anything much to change or edit from the originals though.  

Hence I am delighted to introduce this new work to lovers of African literature. Like the books I mentioned earlier here, I hope this one will encourage many people out there to appreciate the beauty and wide range of our writers, including those in east, west and northern Africa. Thank you!

- Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga"

Other Books by Soqaga

O Bolaji: a voyage around his literary work (2012)

Promoting Quintessential African Writing (2013)

ISHMAEL MZWANDILE SOQAGA (2014)