Soweto Stories

by Miriam Tlali

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Africa, South Africa, African Literature

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1992

About the author

Miriam Tlali (born 11 November 1933) is a South African novelist. She was the first black woman in South Africa to publish a novel, Muriel at Metropolitan, in 1979. She was also one of the first to write about Soweto.

Miriam Masoli Tlali was born in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, and attended St Cyprian's Anglican School and then Madibane High School. She studied at the University of the Witwatersrand until it was closed to Blacks during the apartheid era; she later went to the University of Roma, Lesotho. She left there because of lack of funds, and became an office clerk.

Tlali's first book, Muriel at Metropolitan (1979; originally called Between Two Worlds), is a semi-autobiographical work and its "viewpoint is a new one in South African literature". She later wrote other books, inclusing Amandla (1980), Mihloti (1984), and Footprints in the Quag (1989).

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Puleng Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book consists of ten short stories with an average of fifteen pages each, which are preceded by an introduction by fellow author Lauretta Ngcobo..

The writting is prolific and is kept alive by isiZulu, Afrikaans and Sesotho dialogues.

In the first story, Tlali skilfully writes in first person as a male character. The character is not even given a name but as a reader I could relate and conneced. The descriptive language is effective to a point that as I read I felt part of the story.

In her stories , through her chatecters from Lesotho, Johannesburg CBD, Soweto and Sophiatown, Tlali is meditative and laments racial discrimination , patriarchy, misogyny and moral degeneration . Her main area of concern is Black womxn.

The literary giant and internationally acclaimed Tlali was born in Johannesburg in 1933. Passed on in 2017. She studied at Wits and National University Of Lesotho. A fearless writer who drew mainly from her lived experiences. She wrote under the severe and challenging apartheid era. Her other works are , Muriel At Metropolitan (1975), Amandla (1989) and Mihloti (1984). The first two novels were initially banned in South Africa.

The stories in this anthology are on issues that we still grapple with today, whose dynamics have merely just slightly changed . Other themes covered are sexual violation, old age
, race, crime, love, and death

It is a pleasure that this book was reprinted in 2017 . I totally enjoyed and resonated with it's content.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars (rounded up to 3 stars). A collection of short stories set during the apartheid era which detail the unjust treatment and dehumanisation of black South Africans, in addition to the impacts that the struggle had on individuals and their families. My favourite story was “Devil at a Dead End” (originally banned in 1979) which is about a black girl who is merely trying to catch a train from A to B, the difficulties she encounters trying to acquire a second class train ticket, and the dangers that lie thereafter. This story has a satisfying ending which is one thing I usually find frustrating when reading short stories as they can often end abruptly.

As standalone pieces of writing, some of the stories were slightly dull (such as the first one about bed bugs), however if incorporated into a “complete” story (i.e. a novel), they may have fit nicely. I really wanted to like this book more but unfortunately I didn’t find all of the stories terribly captivating. Ratings for each of the stories are outlined below:

1. Vigil with the Flies and the Bed bugs: 2/5
2. Mm’a-Lithoto: 2/5
3. ‘Fud-u-u-a!’: 2.5/5
4. Dimomona: 3/5
5. ‘Go In Peace, Tobias Son of Opperman’: 2.5/5
6. Metamorphosis: 3/5
7. Gone Are Those Days: 3/5
8. Devil at a Dead end: 4/5
9. The Point of No Return: 2/5
10. ‘Masechaba’s Erring ‘Child’: 2.5/5

[Charlotte Candice Thomas-Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written book comprised of short stories of the lives of those during the apartheid. It shed insight on the oppressive regime that cast many black people into poverty and far worse. Each short story differs and speak on matters that were faced within the community. It was a good read by an exceptional author and I will be doing further research on South African history.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miriam Tlali was the first black woman to publish a novel in South Africa and also one of the first writers who directed their attention to Soweto (the South Western Townships of Johannesburg).

The ten short stories which comprise the volume "Soweto Stories" are unadorned accounts of the lives of average black people and the hardships they have to endure as direct or indirect consequences of the apartheid regime.

For anybody interested in South Africa during the apartheid - or any other form of oppressive government for that matter - this book is a must read.

[Natalia Pì · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good read for anybody interested in the history of South Africa, because it really makes you understand how apartheid wasn't only about segregation - a common misconception, at least in my country - but also about the constant, daily harassment of human beings.
This Miriam Tlali shows very accurately, how the South African regime at the time made the daily lives of blacks unbearably difficult, on all levels.
Some of these stories I really liked, whereas I found others not so interesting, but I suppose that's normal, like in any anthology.