Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart

 

What a pity Finuala Dowling left teaching by the time I enrolled for my first year in studies for my degree in Languages and Literature. But, then again, I will have been marked rather strictly if she read any of my papers, particularly on poetry. But, then again, the school from which I graduated still has a pool of excellent and dedicated teachers. I can’t help thinking, though, that Ms Dowling has left her mark somewhere along the line. Satisfyingly, reader and writer, share Irish roots. Like her name, Finuala Dowling’s poetic prose is swan-like at times, rooted in the female voice.

There are strong biographical influences and elements in Finuala Dowling’s award-winning Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart, published by Kwela Books, an imprint of NB Publishers. Both the author’s parents were radio broadcasters, and in Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart, the protagonist, Margot, is a radio broadcaster. Once again, the author locates her story in Kalk Bay where she still lives with her daughter. Margot has a teenage daughter, Pia., and they share their home with an eclectic and colourful arrangement of characters, no less vulnerable and humane than they are.

Margot’s middle-aged lover, Curtis, may be every grown woman’s dream man, but he is no less prone to the idiosyncracies of the male species which causes much pain for their female partners. Then there is Margot’s eccentric brother known to the reader as Mr Morland. He is a psychic, but is prone to unhygienic habits which causes still more anguish for the female protagonist who is naturally inclined towards conserving her living space. Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart takes its name from the brilliant Zoe’s famously unorthodox self-help tome. Zoe is now senile, causing Margot still more anxiety.

Not to be outdone by this seemingly, close-knit, but typically fragile family, is Joylene, aptly named, as Zoe’s help-meet. She may not be a qualified frail care nurse, but her heart tells us that she is practising her vocation while always preoccupied with her own economic uncertainties which are a consequence of historical inequality in the Cape region. She must travel reasonably long distances to be at Zoe’s side. But, when she is there, she over-extends herself to the point of invasion. But, troubled by this, Margot is aware that Joylene truly means well.

Pia is the product of Margot’s failed marriage with Leroy, a self-centred man-child who is always recklessly down on his luck, earning his keep as a stand-up comedian. His metaphorical tale towards the story’s end is a gem and one well worth quoting at a dinner party or barbecue. Needless to say Margot must balance her own private life and thoughts with her family and professional life. She is self-conscious of her image as a radio broadcaster, plagued with guilt over the treatment of her senile mother, all at sea over her relationship with Curtis and concerned about her daughter’s emotional well-being.

The book’s chapters are remarkably short, but there is a certain metronymic ebb and flow to it, well-crafted and continuously shifting the point of view and narrative arcs. The natural landscape and domestic and social settings also coincides well with the characters’ thoughts and actions. it is familiar ground for any reader who knows the False Bay area of the Cape well, but the narrative is descriptive enough for the first time visitor who needs to re-imagine these settings. Temporally, the story spans about two and a half years, but fleeting reflections from the protagonist set the clock back. While faced with dilemma’s on how to deal with life’s curve balls, there are always timely reminders from Zoe’s eccentric Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart to fall back on.

Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart was awarded the M-Net English category prize in 2012. No stranger to literary excellence and reward, Ms Dowling was awarded the more prestigious Ingrid Jonker prize for her début collection of poetry, I Flying, and the Olive Schreiner Prize.

While Dowling’s work seems to be deeply personal, sensitive and sensible readers can dig deep into their own lives and relate personally to this novel. For me, there is the unresolved issues of the relationship with the mother and how to deal with it in more challenging times, juxtaposed against her own ageing. It matters not whether you are a man or a woman. And while my mother is still well and truly in her prime as an elderly woman, I am also drawn to the inevitable conclusion of earthly life. What happens after one family member has departed? Is a void left when she goes? How do the remaining members cope? Such thoughts are universal, but this fictional journey ends with the promise that no matter what happens, the soul will cope.

As I ended my reading of this touching family drama, I had one regret. I ended my reading far too quickly to savour every last page. I was reading Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart in the bath and the water was getting cold.

The Slave Book

 

Rayda Jacob’s The Slave Book was first published in Cape Town in 1998 by Kwela Books, an imprint of NB Publishers. I was endeared towards Ms Jacobs after watching her film adaptation of her own novel, Confessions of Gambler, a few years ago. Before beginning my reading of The Slave Book I returned to an earlier debate over the awarding of a writing scholarship to the late Andre Brink. The fruits of that scholarship are now well-known. It produced the MAN Booker-listed Philida. Today, my argument remains the same. Brink was already a prominent literary personality, some would say a legend. My argument never questions the undoubted literary craftsmanship of Professor Brink. What, I ask again, is the purpose of a scholarship? It affords a new writer with above average talent and great promise the opportunity to produce an opus free in the knowledge that he, or she, does not need to be concerned about material matters.

The awarding of a scholarship is equivalent to any good writer who has qualified to do a Masters or Doctorate in Creative Writing, say. After reading The Slave Book, I asked myself whether Ms Jacobs would be a more worthy recipient of this scholarship. Culturally, she may have been. At this stage, I do not know whether she did apply for this scholarship offered by the University of the Western Cape. But, perhaps literary excellence was always the primary motif and Brink’s Philida, also published by NB Publishers, testifies to this. But, this also takes nothing away from Rayda Jacobs and her narrative interpretation of the history of slavery in the Western Cape. The central point of The Slave Book always remains the pivotal date of December, 1834, when the promise of freedom is given to all slaves of the Cape of Good Hope.

Before the novel begins, Ms Jacobs acknowledges in some detail those who contributed towards her research. I wonder if this was necessary, but much like Brink did throughout his career, it is laudable. What intrigued me about Jacob’s narrative was her own cultural heritage and perspectives as a woman writer. Slavery, still practised today, is grim enough, but Jacobs steers away from descriptions of the harsh, physical treatment meted out to both indigenous and indentured slaves by their oppressors, particularly the Afrikaners. Instead, she focusses on the psychology of it all and how relationships, particularly between the so-called baster (mixed-race) Harman and the Mahometan (Muslim) slave girl, Somiela, are affected by the oppression of slavery and racism. Religion is not spared either, and who better than a Muslim writer – Rayda Jacobs – to tell this story.

The debate surrounding religion is focussed on the sociological consequences of marriage which does not observe the dogmatic conventions of religious traditions and customs. It is always a good argument, and many enlightened spiritualists – including the story’s protagonist, Harman – will propagate that it does not matter which religion we inherit, because we are still serving the same God. A conservative reader may frown upon the comparisons drawn between the two religions portrayed in The Slave Book, but as Ms Jacob’s research has revealed, the Muslim faith was far more amenable than the Dutch Reformed practices of the Boers. Indeed, the Afrikaners’ version of Christianity is formed through a long history of colonial arguments in favour of racial supremacy.

The Muslims of the Cape do not have this history, but what they do have is the belief that their religion is pure and should not be tainted through other influences. What many Christians of today may not know is that much of what the Qu’ran teaches and many of the pious devotional practices of Muslims have at some point or another since its foundation been appropriated from the earlier Christian and Judaic teachings handed down since Abraham.

I enjoyed the textures of colour, taste and smell which are blended into the narrative. It serves as a beautiful metaphor for those who are able to experience life beyond racial, cultural and religious boundaries, no matter how difficult it remains. Traditional dress and cooking lightens the burdens of slavery, but never erases it. The landscape is familiar to any reader from Cape Town, but is sufficiently descriptive for the foreign reader. Either way, we are never far from the hearts and minds of the characters, even the villainous Andries who is stereotypically characterised as the arch-oppressor who inevitably provokes the conflicts between master and slave. In Cape Town, we could very well describe The Slave Book as a mixed bredie of characterisation, plot and story. While Harman and Somiela must always be our hero and heroine, we must also be aware of the supporting characters’ interpretations and emotions of life in the Cape during the eighteen-thirties.

It is a great pity that I began my reading of Rayda Jacobs with The Slave Book, only learning afterwards that it is part of a trilogy. The Slave Book follows Ms Jacob’s first novel, Eyes of the Sky. The trilogy is concluded with Sachs Street. Pity? No matter. Curiosity got the better of me. I found Eyes of the Sky in my library the other day. I also found Joonie and Confessions of a Gambler – both movie and novel. My introduction to Ms Jacobs’ work began a few years ago when I saw her independent and thought-provoking film which she co-produced. She also wrote the screenplay and directed the show. And what a show it was! Even while watching it for the third time, I remained absorbed in this story about a Cape Muslim woman dealing with the crisis of losing her younger, gay son to HIV/Aids, dealing with her past and facing up to the consequences of depression. I enjoyed the visual presentations of the Muslim practices of prayer and the cleansing and burial rituals of the deceased.

Confessions of a Gambler is an engaging and enlightening encounter for the first-time viewer, or reader. It offers an honest interpretation of what it means to be a devout Muslim in the truest sense of the word. For those who are not Muslim, Ms Jacobs’ work should also address the unfortunate ignorance of this religion. It has many spiritual and physical benefits for the devotee when it is practised in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him.

 

What is Wrong With Education?

 

I wanted to tell you how I achieved a personal milestone.

My thoughts on this went all the way back to my high school years, remembering those few, dedicated teachers who each made a valuable contribution towards igniting my passion for literature and books. There are also those who saw no value in achieving this. They are a reflection of all that is wrong with my country’s educational systems and lack of outcomes today.

They lack the desire, diligence and skills to teach the children they are entrusted with, only collecting the monthly pay cheque. If this is not forthcoming they go on strike, leaving children to their own devices. South Africa’s government under Jacob Zuma, who has no education, recently chose to blame racism and apartheid for the lack of delivery towards the country’s youth who in spite of spurious affirmative action policies to help them still cannot find meaningful work. The spectre of racism reared its ugly head spectacularly among the country’s youth who never experienced the grim realities of oppression under apartheid. The youth have been empowered with the freedom to choose their destinies, but this freedom appears to benefit only the middle and higher classes in South Africa. The racial conflicts affect all groups. Instead of leading from the front to rid us all of unfair prejudice and discrimination, Zuma’s government blames apartheid to shield their incompetence and lack of political will.This is tragic and disgraceful, because the country has the resources to deliver a good education to most of its children in spite of race, colour, class or creed.

The Western Cape government fairs little better. They blame Zuma rather than explain their own lack of delivery and the drop in the number of students passing the matriculation exam. Instead of using the resources provided to them by the national government, they close schools. The explanations that they’ve given to date  mirror good works of fiction. Their city council counterparts puff with pride in obsessively declaring that the City of Cape Town is the best run in the country. Mandatory audits declare that they are clean as a whistle, free of corruption, maladministration and incompetence. But they cannot and will not provide free transport to the students and their older peers who head out each day to seek work, usually on foot. Instead they demolish well-structured houses to make way for their elaborate transport networks. Children travelling long distances to school each day are often late for class. Much like the teachers, the contracted bus drivers are rude and abusive. And if they don’t get their way, they go on strike too.

PICTURE BY COURTNEY AFRICA

Today, some teachers reward their unlearned pupils with a pass on condition that the children return sexual favours.

Recently, the Cape Times propagated across its front page alleged incidents of racism on the campus of one of the city’s universities. Unnamed sources in the report were not credible and no counter arguments were given fair and equitable comment. The paper manufactured racist clashes between ‘black’ and ‘white’ students, for once portraying the minority group as the victims. A small group of students chose to disrupt campus business and prevent other students from attending classes. The anarchists claimed that they were denied the opportunity to register for another year of study mainly because they had not paid their previous year’s tuition fees. Sadly, this is standard practice at most functioning universities across the globe. Tertiary education is expensive. The students’ plight, in spite of their violent behaviour, is understandable. But the newspaper’s behaviour during the course of its reporting is unacceptable. Disguising their agenda’s as “transformation”, the paper is a true reflection of a lack of proper education.

The students who attacked their campus and the newspaper that published their actions should have reflected on the true causes of being denied access to a proper education. Through selective ignorance they chose not to bang on the door of the government’s minister of “higher education” and call on him for comment on why he cannot and will not dispense billions in available funds to needy students. After all, not only are these funds available, but both Blade Nzimande and Zuma promised this delivery just before the country’s last general elections. Promises not kept and the lack of delivery is a problem not unique to my beloved city.

I wondered why these students did not make use of their ‘free’ time visiting the city’s free libraries acquiring knowledge and other resources so long. Perhaps they are not interested in reading or working towards a qualification? Or perhaps they burnt down their local library?

I wanted to tell you about those who helped me get an education. And, no, the government, past or present, did not help me. I will return to this positive story another day.

Hello!

 

My journey from clerk to writer has barely begun. It’s on the proverbial road less travelled and it hasn’t been easy so far. But has it been worthwhile? You tell me. Today, I write about my home town more than anything else. Most of my writing is still in the drawer. But the seeds have already been planted and soon the process of revision and re-writing will begin. Where it will lead to is too soon to say. Among the works shelved for now is a story about a young woman who chooses an unconventional life. Her character is loosely based on a few controversial personages created by one or two of the great Renaissance writers of the past.

Some of my writing is autobiographical. A collection of short stories which talks more about our cultural diversity than anything else has triggered me to write more about my life from the time I was growing up to the present day. The outline of my work to date is modelled on a structure used by one of South Africa’s greatest writers from the past fifty years or so. While the short story collection will prove to be entertaining, if not thought-provoking to close readers, the autobiographical project may take some years to develop. All I ask for is some patience and at least another twenty years added to my short life to do this. In the meantime, a little poetry now and then sparks some inspiration for more rough notes.

I am a creative writer of fiction and non-fiction. Some of the writing is serious while other writings should elicit a smile or some inspiration for the reader. I have a curious mind and when time allows this I have my head buried in biographical and historical works, broadening my mind and discovering new places and learning about the people who have shaped our universe and the people who still do this today. Here, you are going to read mostly book and movie reviews, but if you have a particular interest you are more than welcome to leave a comment and I will explore this for you. New things and new faces piqué me as well.

In order to put food on the table I’ve started freelancing in a demanding market which is not far removed from you. My expertise includes copy-editing, research and proofreading. And I’m qualified with a BA in Languages and Literature. Remember how I told you that my journey as a writer had only begun. Well, after completing my degree I decided to further my studies with a second degree, BA Honours in English. Further down the road is a more ambitious project of putting together a portfolio of works which will serve as an application to do a Masters in Creative Writing. I now know that it is not impossible to do. Again, all I ask for is time and the resources to carry this out.

In the meantime please enjoy your reading.

Love,

Mark