Zukiswa Wanner’s London Cape Town Joburg: A Review

In one of rare occasions, I was able to watch a staged adaptation of Zukiswa Wanner’s London Cape Town Jorbug in late summer early 2015. I acknowledge Karabelo, a colleague in the department of Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, who heard my cry and came to my rescue. For quite a number of months after having been in the University of Free State for over six months, I had been complaining that I had not been into a theatre to watch a play except to attend seminars/presentations. Thanks to my colleague who took me to watch the adaptation of London Cape Town Jorbug just before I left for Kenya. It was a great farewell gift. Now that I have read the story I can say so with conviction. The director did a good job and the cast did wonderfully well.

However, nothing beats a good story as reading the story in its original print version and seeing the events come to life by themselves at the back of your mind. I have ended up reconstructing the script afresh and staging the story in my mind as I read along. Needless to say I found myself mouthing certain swear words with a Brrrr accent. It has been worthwhile to indulge some migrant literature at a time when scholars are still engaging lively debate on the same. If you have your sights and interest on literature about migrations, race, mixed marriages and a coming-of-age relationship, then here is an ambitious story that embarks on packaging all and more in one text.  

“Zuko Spencer-O'Malley is dead.” This is the narrative hook that opens the novel. I immediately became suspicious of the name and chose to read into the text’s undertones of a character whose blood is laced with mixed race. I did not have to read far to discover that the father of the untimely dead teenager is one Martin O’Malley (black) married to Germaine Spencer (white). The love story between the two of them is of a romantic nature, one that begins with a light touch when Germaine is dared by her female confidante, Priya, to obtain the phone number of a stranger in a London bar. Martin is a black South African and an Investment Banker in the City while Germaine is English and a lecturer at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design and a ceramicist. Theirs is a love story of a rollercoaster nature characterised by breath-taking moments and scuttling to either an exhilarating end or a tragic one.

The seed of their love is sowed in London, it bears its roots and sprouts there but eventually it blossoms and solidifies when they settle first in Cape Town and eventually in Johannesburg. The triangular nature of the physical locales of habitation epitomises the different experiences, challenges and achievements in their lives. In my wildest of dreams I did not imagine that such a catastrophe as the one that befalls the protagonist couple would happen but at the backdrop of the socio-political and economic tragedies befalling many migrants this might not even be near the magnitude of suffering that most people in such a situation find themselves in. At least the scenario in the South African nation is already tragic enough as it is!

Thus, the tripartite structure of the text best captures three historic moments in the lives of the protagonist couple as well as that of the South African nation. London (1994-1998) is a momentous time as South Africa transitions from an apartheid country to a free one in a historic democratic election. Nelson Mandela takes over the helm of the nation and Martin O’Malley and Germaine Spencer fall into in a biracial relationship that takes them by storm literally. The writer then provides an intricate narrative that weaves the biographical stories of the protagonist couple together by bringing on board their family members and close friends. It is here that the protagonist couple marry, beget Zuko Spencer-O’Malley, we learn of O’Malley’s previous relationship with Soraya and his connection to Sufyian, Spencer’s closeness with Priya and her complex lover Anil amongst other happenings.

In the second part, Cape Town (1998-2008), we experience the physical dislocation of the couple as they transition from London to Cape Town. The political mood in South Africa is also such that the presidency has changed and some political undertones of dissent abound. At the same time, the social, economic and political affairs are also in a transitory mood. As a few citizens appear to excel, the majority are left wallowing in the miasma of destitution even as they grapple with memories of historical injustices that had been meted out to them by the apartheid regime. For instance, Germaine realises that there are deep seated problems that cannot be resolved through hand-outs. The general mood that pervades the text is palpable. However, both O’Malley and Spencer seem to thrive and blend in well including Zuko who appears to have established his identity through his promising swimming pastime.

Zukiswa Wanner: Author

It is in Joburg (2008-2011) that the thrill and excitement in the text peaks and ultimately comes crushing down. Zuko has in the closing pages of the second part attained a voice through journal entries. All along we have been listening to the narrative voices of O’Malley and Germaine alternate with each other but now we have to reckon with the subtle innocent voice of their son. It is an artistic move with a far reaching effect since Zuko’s death, voiced in his journal entries, will finally tear the hearts of his parents as well as those of the reader apart. O’Malley’s marriage to Germaine is too good to be true: the ideal investment banker husband and the iconic artistic wife who discovers her independence in art as a way of self-expression. However, the staining of the perfect protagonist couple’s relationship with the death of their only son Zuko comes across as too harsh. The crumbling of their economic investment is understandable but the sexual assault of their son by his closest uncle Liam and his subsequent suicide is extremely hurtful and abominable.

London Cape Town Jorbug is a tragic story short of catharsis. The economic misfortunes of O’Malley through the conning by his estranged father blends in well since it preys on O’Malley’s weakness for unreasonably trusting a man that his mother and wife had earnestly warned him against. On the contrary, the ugly death of Zuko Spencer-O’Malley is devastatingly unjustified. Even when I watched the staged version I still felt short-changed as much as I tried to console myself that this is fiction and I should distance myself from emotional indulgence. It is a rich novel with revelations of racial experiences especially for mixed race relationships. But more importantly, it is a text with daunting information concerning scars of apartheid trauma, anti-racism racism, xenophobia and how relationships are tempered with by different experiences and occurrences. The writer does not have to write a happily-ever-after-story but in this case Wanner could have made an exception. Don’t you agree?

A Review of Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye’s Coming to Birth

Courtesy of: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/image

It has taken me an unnecessarily longer time than expected to reread Marjorie Oludhe Mcgoye’s Coming to Birth. Perhaps it is because I consciously knew that she passed on late last year; thus trying to pore over every word or it could be that I have been juggling too many things of late. I concede that this culminates into one of the most difficult book reviews I have ever done. However, the text still left me informed of the various ways in which humans and aspects of life have continued to come into being – to birth so to speak.

The text has enjoyed a wide audience owing to its run in the school curriculum as a set book in addition to its adoption in the Kenyan university literature programmes. Further, with its setting at the backdrop of the colonial times and the period after independence in Kenya, it has continued to interest many a reader due to its historical tangent. Indeed, the text serves as an allegory to the political events bedecking the country at the time. Symbolically, one can lay claim that the text represents the effort to come to birth in the Kenyan nation: economically, socially and politically.

In its opening pages, we are immediately introduced to the main characters: Martin Were and Paulina Akelo. As the reader soon realises, Martin represents the rising and upcoming educated young generation. It is a generation straddled between the traditional African way of doing things and the emergent westernised ways of handling things. It is one source of conflict in the text. In fact, it symbolises Martin’s dilemma on how to handle his marriage: should he carry himself as a traditional patriarch, a representation of a true Luo man or should he act as a liberal man who resides in a town setup?

On the other hand, Paulina is inextricably disadvantaged by the fact that she has to rediscover herself, her self-worth, her womanhood and maternal-hood through the varied personal experiences at the backdrop of an unforgiving patriarchal society that considers women independence ill-advised. When we first encounter her, we immediately empathise with her predicament as a naïve teenage girl thrown into the murky world of a marriage institution she knows nothing about. It appears as a deliberate step by the author to mould a character who will be the voice of reason in conveying the idea of women emancipation eventually towards the end of the text.

For his part, Martin comes across as the inverse of Paulina. As she grows to be more assertive and sure of herself, Martin diminishes not only in confidence but somehow in his moral standing owing to the fact that he feels less of a man as a result of his inability to bear children not just with Paulina but also with the other women such as with Fatima and Fauzia. In a way, the text raises poignant issues regarding the criteria that the society uses to define the individual’s identity: is it education? Money? Children? Work? Marriage? What exactly defines human beings and their sense of worth? Also, of what significance is the railway line to the definition of the country at large? Does the railway redefine the political, social or economic status of the country or that of its people?

Kenya at large seems to be going through certain labour pains as it strives to attain independence at the backdrop of colonisation. Barbed wires, passes and controlled movement of citizens is what we encounter in the opening pages of the novel. We can deduce that Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye uses the story of Martin and Paulina as a foil to narrate the story of independence of the nation at large. Consequently, as we grief with Paulina for the miscarriages she suffers, we also grief with the country for the loss of its freedom fighters, political icons like Argwings Kodhek, J. M. Kariuki, Tom Mboya etc. As Kenya goes through economic upheavals, political assassinations, tribal divisions and other turbulent issues such as armed attacks at the OTC bus station, we also appreciate the equivalent challenges at the personal level as both Martin and Paulina are embattled with personal losses.

Courtesy of: http://www.essyoscarjournal.com

Where Martin is at times cast as degenerating morally – sleeping with multiple women et al, Paulina is propped as a determined woman who finally finds her voice and financial independence through her perseverance. It is through Paulina that the writer manages to differentiate between womanhood and motherhood. Either can be used to define a woman without having any inhibitions regarding the sense of self-worth. Although Paulina prides herself in being able to bear a child, Martin Okeyo, with Simon, she is soon to discover that motherhood is not the only means to self-definition when he is accidentally killed through a gunshot during the procession to welcome Jomo Kenyatta to Kisumu – an event highlighting the acrimony between the tribe of the Gikuyu and that of the Luo. However, the affair with Martin symbolises her ability to make decisions for herself, if you so wish her sexual independence.

On the other hand, Martin discovers disillusionment when he tries to find happiness in other women. His manhood is consistently crushed when he cannot bear children perhaps intimating that manhood is not only defined by ability to sire children. He finally has to do the inevitable when he packs his things to join Paulina in her place of abode at the home of Mr and Mrs M. This is ironic since the community of the time would consider it a taboo for the man to be housed by the woman – subversion of masculinity – that a man is the provider/protector. It epitomises Paulina’s independence which is already visible in her conversations with her employer. She can voice her opinions and make other decisions like talking to the press and refusing to divulge her identity. In a conciliatory tone, the writer makes it possible for Martin and Paulina to conceive at the end of the text.

It is this conception that is pregnant with a lot of hope. Not just for the couple but also for the country at large. The reader can entertain the imagination that both Martin and Paulina will finally have peace now that they have come of age. Their experiences have taught them, shaped them into a better couple. As a result, we assume that the country has also learnt from its mistakes and it would be willing to mend political differences for the common good of its citizenry. Although the text resonates with authorial intrusions here and there like the encounter of Paulina with the street children, the reader is able to follow the coming of age of the two characters in all different spheres of their lives. It is not necessarily the best of novels of the coming of age of Kenya, neither is it the most interesting read but it is manageable. What is your take?

A Review of Blossoms of Savannah by Henry Ole Kulet

Maasai Cultural Intricacies: FGM and Changing Social Perspectives

Taiyo and Resian appropriately epitomise the complexities of changing times insofar as culture is concerned. In this novel, Ole Kulet demonstrates the challenges plaguing traditional African mores in the face of contemporary trends that threaten to dismantle such structures that most people have strove to hang onto or even at times to institutionalise. It is a story that casts two daughters on a collision path with their parents and their community’s cultural beliefs.

Their parents, Mr Kaelo and Mama Milanoi symbolise the dilemma for many African families that find themselves torn between urban lives and the rural one. It appears that Kaelo’s time in the town of Nakuru has come to an end since Agribix Limited his employer has closed shop. However, Kaelo seems to have prepared for this eventuality as we are informed that he has decided to set up an agrovet distributing shop in his rural home town of Nasila. However, as we come to discover much later Kaelo’s venture into business is tainted by financial aid from a thrifty unscrupulous business man who usurps his financial and moral authority over his family.

Indeed both Taiyo and Resian have a bad premonition about going back to the rural village where their father hails from. They are both at their prime age having been denied the rich cultural milieu of the Maa people. They are aspiring to join Egerton University to quench their thirst for education. As Resian says, she would like to be called Dr. Resian Kaelo, if only their father would allow them to join the university so that she can pursue a course in Veterinary Science. Unbeknown to them, their father’s and mother’s thoughts have begun to be beleaguered by cultural expectations from which they have been shielding their daughters from. Mama Milanoi’s biggest fear is the fact that her daughters are Intoiye Nemengalana – the derogatory term for uncircumcised women amongst the Maasai.

As a matter of fact, the novel depicts the unenviable position that families who have straddled between two different types of lives find themselves in. They are neither town people nor rural people. The chasm between being recognised as urbanites or rural folks depicts the main conflict in the story. This is because the Kaelos will have to redefine themselves no longer as people of Nakuru but orphans of Nasila. As a result, the Kaelos will have to find ingenious ways to battle the expectations of the Nasila people. The breaking down of one of the lorries could insinuate the challenges on their journey towards being integrated into the lifestyle of the Nasila people.

The sojourn from Nakuru to Nasila foreshadows a clash between the beliefs of the young girls who represent the way of life of urban people and that of the indigenous Nasila habitats who strongly believe in the adherence to communal beliefs like female circumcision. Thus, the expectations of the two sets of people are at odds with each other thereby signifying the inevitable clash and the potential fallout of Resian and Taiyo with their parents. The fallout is compounded by the father’s indebtedness to Oloisudori – a cruel businessman whose evil nature precedes his name. In fact, the text describes Oloisudori as part of the people who have desecrated the Maa culture allegorically referring to how Nasila river was being polluted by chemicals and other poisonous pollutants.

 Although the Kaelo’s can to a certain extent pride themselves in being proactive towards change, their faith is greatly tested when the parents have to host a party in order to be received back into the Ilmolelian clan fold and the bigger Nasila cultural family. It is during this occasion that the demands on the Kaelo’s family begin to appear clearer. For once, the girls realise that being female is disadvantageous amongst the Maasai. A man, Joseph Parmuat, is tasked with the responsibility of coaching the girls about their culture implying the lack of faith on the part of the society towards women’s ability to educate themselves. This is one example of the varied instances through which the community’s culture is depicted as being biased towards women folk. Others include FGM, dowry and marriage negotiations, choosing a partner, education and career amongst others.

A story within the story is told about the myth on FGM and the rise of the fame of the Enkamuratani (female circumciser) and her tool of trade the olmurunya (razor-sharp blade). Like most other cultural beliefs, it has been adopted and perfected over time such that no one dares to challenge it. On the contrary, modernisation, especially through formal education, has brought about a splinter group headed by Minik ene Nkoitoi famously known as Emakererei. She is educated and she believes in individual choices and the pursuit of one’s dreams. It is a position that has seen her alienated from the community – considered an outcast who is out to undermine the authority of Maasai elders. However, she ends up being the voice of reason and the source of hope for most girls like Resian and Taiyo.

Kaelo succumbs to the pressures of his community and selfishly trades his daughter to Oloisudori. Although he would like to present himself as remorseful and a victim of Oloisudori’s greed, we are persuaded to see him as inconsiderate, authoritarian and uncaring towards the desires of his daughters. Indeed, this is clearer from the beginning of the novel when he callously mistreats Resian because he had hoped to get a son for his second child. Resian’s troubled spirit later in life is attributed to this open hostility from her father although she finds solace in her sister’s protective care.

Resian’s adamant spirit pays off when she triumphs over the treacherous snares before her to survive death narrowly. She escapes marriage to Oloisudori only to end up in the hands of Olarinkoi who lures her with the false promise of taking her into safety but he intends to marry her for himself. She has to physically fight him off in order to rebuff an attempted sexual assault, overcome sickness and eventually find help through Nabaru who takes her to Minik’s farm. It is at Minik’s farm that she is reunited with Taiyo, who is unlucky because the olmurunya has been applied on her and she has lost a dear friend Parmuat who dies rescuing her. It is at Minik’s farm that their dreams eventually blossom when they receive the good news that they will be joining the university to further their education.

Kulet’s Blossoms of the Savannah presents a melting pot of cultures and envisions a social continuum in which culture can never be static. It is a text that recognises individual psychic dilemmas, one that pits family members against each other and acknowledges the inevitable clash when an individual’s desires and aspirations are at odds with old and at times outdated cultural beliefs. Ole Kulet recognises that it is not enough to lay blame on colonial structures and changing times, we have to take responsibility for our own shortcomings and individual choices. However, just as certain species of plants bloom in the hot Savannah climate, we will have individuals amongst us who will thrive or blossom irrespective of the debilitating cultural hurdles.