{"id":199088,"date":"2021-08-20T04:53:15","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T02:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/book-review-sindiwe-magonas-devastating-uplifting-story-of-south-african-women\/"},"modified":"2021-08-20T04:53:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T02:53:15","slug":"book-review-sindiwe-magonas-devastating-uplifting-story-of-south-african-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/book-review-sindiwe-magonas-devastating-uplifting-story-of-south-african-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Book review: Sindiwe Magona’s devastating, uplifting story of South African women"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading South African author Sindiwe Magona<\/a>\u2019s latest novel When the Village Sleeps<\/a><\/em> reminded me of my time researching and teaching in the country\u2019s Eastern Cape province a decade ago. While involved in community engagement for Rhodes University I heard stories of young people who would deliberately contract HIV in order to receive government disability grants<\/a>. <\/p>\n

When the Village Sleeps<\/em> spans three generations of women in one family and the central role of ancestral belief and ancient custom \u2013 or a lack of it \u2013 in their lives. It initially focuses on Busi, a promising young student who benefits from an education at a good school due to the hard work and friendship of her grandmother with her former white employer. <\/p>\n

It reveals the devastating motivation behind Busi\u2019s teenage pregnancy orchestrated to produce a financial reward in the form of a child support grant<\/a> from the state.<\/p>\n

The shocking story at the centre of Magona\u2019s latest novel is as heartbreaking as it is cruel \u2013 and yet the character of Busi\u2019s daughter Mandlakazi (or Mandla) completely overturns the notion that her birth is a tragedy. She becomes the heroine who unites her family. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
<\/span> Pan Macmillan\/Picador Africa<\/span><\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Magona is a pioneering<\/a> writer who, with this new novel, continues to feature challenging contemporary issues in her work, with incisive commentaries on power, masculinity and the role of women. <\/p>\n

The old and the new<\/h2>\n

Mandla\u2019s great grandmother, Khulu, who takes baby Mandla to the rural Eastern Cape to recuperate from birth disabilities and strengthen her, is central to the story and it is her unending devotion that seems to bring about such a significant change in the \u201cbroken bundle\u201d she brings home to Sidwadweni. <\/p>\n

Referencing the poetry and teachings of celebrated isiXhosa-language author and historian S.E.K. Mqhayi<\/a>, the narration frequently shifts into poetry to enable the voice of Mandla to articulate her nascent consciousness which seems fused with her ancestors, \u201cthe Old\u201d. From her earliest moments she would:<\/p>\n

\n

fall asleep to the ministrations<\/p>\n

of her hands infused with care<\/p>\n

and into that sleep<\/p>\n

the lyrics of songs pouring from an ancient throat<\/p>\n

sink deep into my mind<\/p>\n

into my brain, my heart, my limbs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No wonder Mandla is so transformed by the years she spends under Khulu\u2019s care. She returns to Kwanele township in Cape Town with a divine gift that enables her to access the ancestral realm, and predict the future.<\/p>\n

Central to the novel is abenzakalise<\/em> (those who have harmed) and the consequences of their actions. On a personal level this relates to Busi\u2019s strained relationship with her mother Phyllis and her estranged father, and then, as a teenager, the alcohol and the street drug tik<\/a> she imbibes in order to deform her baby and receive the state\u2019s disability allowance<\/a>. <\/p>\n

However, all of these characters are shown to be capable of redemption and change<\/a>, as long as they adhere to Khulu\u2019s wisdom \u2013 which is by no means a fixed regurgitation of \u201ctradition\u201d but a practical, living faith. So the resilience and strength of all the female characters shines through, as it does in Magona\u2019s celebrated 2008 novel<\/a> Beauty\u2019s Gift<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

A devastating critique<\/h2>\n

On a wider allegorical level the novel reads as a critique of South Africa itself, the impact of colonialism and the ruling African National Congress (ANC), who have harmed the people through corruption and a failure to tackle inequality, stunting the growth of a healthy, prosperous nation.<\/p>\n

Explicit critique of the government and particularly government handouts which do nothing to really alleviate poverty, but just entrench feelings of helplessness, is evident throughout the novel. <\/p>\n

Magona makes incisive judgements, through her characters \u2013 especially the elder Khulu and young Mandla \u2013 and offers possible solutions, which include honouring the earth and returning to self-sufficiency. This idealism can feel na\u00efve at times but there\u2019s something very seductive and straightforward about the self-care, and self-respect that comes from citizens helping themselves and transforming their communities from within.<\/p>\n

\n

Read more: Learning from the story of pioneering South African writer Sindiwe Magona<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Towards the end, the book tips into a kind of disabled girls\u2019 manifesto or set of instructions for how to set up community-based support for disabled and marginalised young people. However Magona expertly shifts the narrative at that point back to a dialogue with the ancestors and manages to transform the didactic elements of the tale into wisdom that reaches up to the present day and the threat of COVID-19. <\/p>\n

Very recent commentary on the difficulties of enforcing social distancing in communities which rely on food parcels during the pandemic, forcing locals to gather together to collect much needed help, is painful to read. The mistakes are so preventable and obvious and yet are made time and again.<\/p>\n

The prophecy<\/h2>\n

Most interesting to me is the way in which the novel manages to balance the re-introduction of neglected female initiation rites alongside the magic realism of Mandla\u2019s prediction of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the 15-year-old Xhosa prophetess Nongqawuse<\/a>\u2019s 19th century prophecy \u2013 which led to a millennial movement that culminated in the cattle-killing and famine of 1856-7 \u2013 Mandla\u2019s foretelling that \u201cthe world will die\u201d, comes true, although perhaps not on the scale the \u201cvoices\u201d decreed:<\/p>\n

\n

The ground will not be able to swallow all the dead!<\/p>\n

O-oh! The multitudinous dead!<\/p>\n

There will be none left to bury the dead.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In many respects this prediction blurs, in my mind, with the scale of the HIV\/AIDS pandemic<\/a> that killed more than 2 million South Africans, with 7.7 million currently infected with HIV. Magona has written searingly on this topic before. <\/p>\n

Once again excoriating the corruption and failures of government, the Fields of Hope project, which young Mandla initiates to grow food for the township, shines like a beacon when \u201cwhat government help does for the poor is cement them in poverty\u2026 Here comes help that is real!\u201d <\/p>\n

Ending on a shockingly blunt and abrupt note, Magona leaves us, as always, with a lot to think about.<\/p>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading South African author Sindiwe Magona\u2019s latest novel When the Village Sleeps reminded me of my time researching and teaching in the country\u2019s Eastern Cape province a decade ago. While involved in community engagement for Rhodes University I heard stories of young people who would deliberately contract HIV in order to receive government disability grants. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":199089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-199088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/book-review-sindiwe-magonas-devastating-uplifting-story-of-south-african-women.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}