Reading the 20th Century discussion
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Nervous Conditions
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Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (April 2021)
Mod
Because last time people already read half of it when the discussion started, I started earlier and I already went through 30%. So far so good. I am in a bit of a reading slump so I am counting on this discussion o lift me out of it. I am reading the Kindle version but I think the audiobook would also be ok since it is a 1st person narration.
Mod
This is one of my most anticipated books as I jumped in with the last of the trilogy, This Mournable Body, and really need to start at the beginning.
And if anyone is dithering, this is currently price dropped to £2.99 on Kindle - it's flagged as a limited time deal so grab it quick!
Mod
Adina wrote: "I started earlier and I already went through 30% So far so good.. ..."What is your impression of Nhamo, Adina? The opening line of the book "I was not sorry when my brother died" has to be one of the great attention grabbing starts to a book!
Jonathan wrote: "Adina wrote: "I started earlier and I already went through 30% So far so good.. ..."What is your impression of Nhamo, Adina? The opening line of the book "I was not sorry when my brother died" h..." I disliked him at first but he was a product of the patriarchal society and of the false idea that he was above everybody else because he went to study at the mission. A trap in which his sisters seems to fall now. The 1st sentence was indeed excellent, it immediately draws the reader into the story. You want to know why she's not sorry her brother died.
I’ve read the first three chapters, I very quickly got engaged with this family and Tambu’s voice. She is certainly a strong character, and the contrast with her other family members (and the wider family of her uncles and aunts) is fascinating.
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1965: the white minority government unilaterally declared independence from Southern Rhodesia, a British colony, under the name Rhodesia. The name, of course, is a homage to Cecil Rhodes who conquered this land in the name of the British South African Company.
Zimbabwe comes into existence in 1980 after 15 years of guerilla warfare and international isolationism.
Roman Clodia wrote: "I'm interested in the specificity of the dates mentioned in the opening chapter and looked up the history:..."I think you are spot on in searching out a feel for timelines, and getting to grips with the unique complexity of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe is central to understanding and enjoying all three parts of Dangarembga's Tambudzai trilogy in my opinion.
The author is generally quite vague (deliberately) about the political backdrop and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 meant that Southern Rhodesians were exposed to even more injustice (behind closed doors) than some other African nations who secured a different (better?) independence following the British government's gradual withdrawal from "Empire" after 1960 (Macmillan Winds of Change speech)
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I disliked him at first but he was a product of the patriarchal society and of the false idea that he was above everybody else because he went to study at the mission. A trap in which his sisters seems to fall now."
I love the complicated characterisations and the way the book resists dropping people into easy categories. Nhamo, as Adina says, is clearly the product of patriarchy, as are some of the older women.
It's fascinating, then, to think about where Tambu's resistance comes from with her insistence on having an education, and those scenes where she tries to sell the maize to raise money for her own school fees.
I also love that she's quite an abrasive character, not conventionally 'likeable' - though I do like her.
Roman Clodia wrote: "What was the relationship between the Rhodesian government (Ian Smith?) and the apartheid regime in South Africa? ..."There was the formal stance and the underlying reality. Birds of a feather... Also the Dutch/Boers had outed the British (The Boer war) some half century before and the similarity existed of an independence from British rule in both cases that was not brokered by the British, and for which in both cases the majority rule meant white rule.
In the context of Nervous Conditions Babmukuru's family had received some education in South Africa, and the whites in South Africa are perjoratively referred to as the "white wizards". Its not overtly expressed, but each one Dangarembga's characters when referring to the South African whites leave no doubt that they were exploiters and killers (eg in the mines).
Adina wrote: "Because last time people already read half of it when the discussion started, I started earlier and I already went through 30%. "I have noticed that too and I really like that the folks here are such eager and enthusiastic readers. But this eagerness has caused me to adjust and make sure that, with this group's reads, I'm ready to start either right at the beginning of the month or a few days early. Thus, I am now half way through this book. A few observations:
1) As mentioned by RC and others, the characters are complex, complicating any assessment of their being good or bad, an assessment further complicated by cultural differences. I find that refreshing and, in RC's words "I love the characterizations!"
2) Despite this, I find my actual reading of this book to be a bit sluggish. After reading a chapter, I feel like I've read enough and have to push myself to read more. I often will look and see that I've read less pages than I thought. As I like the characters and plot and find the descriptions easy to visualize, this sluggishness puzzles me. The book should be more of a page-turner than it is. I've checked and both the writing and word usage don't seem either overly simple or overly complex. Oh well, I plod on, as I do find the book interesting.
3) This book would have been a good fit with our June group read topic.
Brian wrote: "Adina wrote: "Because last time people already read half of it when the discussion started, I started earlier and I already went through 30%. "I have noticed that too and I really like that the f..." I have the same feeling as you are voicing at point 2. I thought i am getting into a reading slump and that is the reason but it might be something more if you struggle as well.
yes, the book would fit nicely there.
I am fascinated too by how language is used to bring people together and keep them apart. The influence of the colonisers is seen in this respect. The family can speak English, but Shona is their main language. Nhamo refuses to speak Shona when he returns for the mission, he even pretends he can no longer understand it, but when a decision is to be made he suddenly remembers! Babamukuru’s family also seem to struggle with Shona, they have become outsiders in a way.
Mod
Interesting to hear that Adina and Brian are struggling a little - I'm finding this quite a fast read but I do also think that Dangarembga is the kind of author who wants to challenge her readers to work a bit. The lack of political background, for instance, despite the precision of what are (thanks Jonathan!) significant dates for the history of Zimbabwe.
Also the characters who don't fit the standard template for family saga-style stories. I don't think this is a book we can simply relax into and coast through, it seems a require a more active engagement.
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Yes, I agree, this makes good use of language as a tool of colonialism as well as a site of resistance.
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I wonder if it's possible to write an African novel that's not also, to some extent, a postcolonial novel? This is a genuine, not rhetorical, question - can anyone think of any?
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I've read the first couple of chapters and am finding the same - I'm drawn in by Tambu's voice and her determination to learn.
I could do with a glossary - I'm having to look up quite a few words and have not managed to find out what a dara is - it seems to be a kitchen stand for water.
Roman Clodia wrote: "Brian wrote: "This book would have been a good fit with our June group read topic."I wonder if it's possible to write an African novel that's not also, to some extent, a postcolonial novel? This ..."
I don't remember there being much politics in The Famished Road.
JudySome of the references in the trilogy are more specifically Shona rather than Rhodesia(Zimbabwe) wide.
“The traditional Shona court system (dare), is still applicable in contemporary rural Zimbabwe; the Shona constitute about 75% of Zimbabwe’s 13 million people. For the Shona, a crime (mhosva) is seen as affecting the whole community, hence the social, ontological and moral dimension of crime.”
For Tambu’s family (and other extended families), the dare also operated as a closed family affair where decisions affecting the family collectively were discussed.
Mod
The word I was querying is dara, which is some kind of equipment in the kitchen (Tambu fetches water from it) that is damaged and needs to be mended.
Judy wrote: "dara..."My apologies about my incorrect assumption Judy. I had mistakenly thought that the a and the e in dare and dara had been swapped in your question or in the book.
I recall when reading the book that it was also quite hard to find much information on "dare"
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Thanks Hugh - I haven't read that though do see postcolonial noted in the blurb. Perhaps it's a question of definition as not all postcolonial novels are necessarily overtly about politics, are they? The 'nervous conditions' of our title are also about psychological conditions, I guess.
Mod
Judy wrote: "No worries Jonathan - I'm sure I would shortly have also been searching for the meaning of "dare" - and that it will be a far more important word in the book than "dara"!"Judy this is a list I found online that might be useful:
Baba relational title of respect for adult male fathers
babamukuru uncle
babawa Chido another name for Babamukuru
chikuwa words often repeated, repeated request
dagga temporary hut
dara (Swahili) feel, touch, try, embrace
dare meeting of the family patriarchy
devere groundnut
go go go asking permission to enter
hanzvadzi sibling of the opposite sex
hari earthenware pot
hezvo interjection of surprise
hosho uncomfortable; rattle shaken in time with a drum
hozi grain storage hut also used for sleeping quarters
kani interjection of polite emphasis;
quarrel; shining
kraal (Dutch) corral
mainini mother, aunt, younger sister, junior wife, daughter of mother’s brother
makorokoto congratulations
masese strainings from beer, beer sediment
mbodza stiff porridge (not cooked properly), or a mixture containing too much liquid
mhunga annual grass, bulrush millet
Msasa (Swahili) Sandpaper
mukoma older sibling of the same sex as the speaker (used incorrectly in the novel by Tambu & her sister – they should use the term hanzvadzi to refer to their brother)
mwaramu male relational title of respect, rape, turnips
roora bride price, dowry
sadza (Venda) porridge of maize flour
sisi sister, also used for unmarried females of a family
tete father’s sister
tuckshops (Finnish) candy store, sweet shop
I liked her retention of various Shona and other words, it highlights issues around language, culture and translatability.
Roman Clodia wrote: "Hugh wrote: "I don't remember there being much politics in The Famished Road."Thanks Hugh - I haven't read that though do see postcolonial noted in the blurb. Perhaps it's a question of definitio..."
The 'nervous conditions' in the title refer back to Sartre and Fanon, and the state of being that the experience of being colonised can bring about, so I interpret that as the way in which social and economic oppression can manifest through/be written on the body, although Fanon and Sartre seem to suggest that there's a hegemonic aspect to this, it's not just an imposed form of violence but one that in a sense is 'consented' to. I thought the impact of the brother's education was a prime example of this form of 'consent' on the one hand school allows for the possibility of future prosperity so it's desirable but on the other the colonial education system results in producing someone alienated from and outside of their own culture. For the women in the novel I think these forms of violence are not purely related to colonialism but also to patriarchal oppression. So the psychological conditions are a symptom of being subjected to/submitting to particular forms of oppression.
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That's okay Judy, I'm coming to the end of chapter three now. I thought the story about the maize was a great way of illustrating the status of daughters, both in terms of the father's reaction and the mother's insistence that girls had to stay in their place not just because it was what's expected but because if they tried anything else they'd inevitably fail. But also finding how Tambu talks about her experience brings out the way that she's caught between cultures, she has a fiercely independent stance yet the family party suggests that individuals have no relevance. The group operates in terms of hierarchy and every member has a set role and status within that, the individual only seems to matter when they don't live up to the expectations associated with their role. But then references that presumably stem from a Catholic education also creep in, when Tambu's talking about her brother in terms of 'sins of omission,' which reasserts the idea of the individual but also highlights another dimension of colonialism the role of religion in keeping the colonised in their place.
Mod
Early in chapter 4:
'... but I have learnt, in the years that have passed since then, to curb excesses and flights of fancy. The point has been made: I can now refer to my uncle's house as no more than that - a house.'
Roman Clodia wrote: "It's interesting how Tambu draws attention to how she felt 'then' at the time the story takes place and 'now' at the point she's telling it. Early in chapter 4:
'... but I have learnt, in the ye..."
Absolutely although sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the adult and the girl's perspective. Her use of language seems unusually formal at times too, presumably something to do with the Mission's approach to teaching English?
Mod
Roman Clodia wrote: "It's interesting how Tambu draws attention to how she felt 'then' at the time the story takes place and 'now' at the point she's telling it. Early in chapter 4:
'... but I have learnt, in the ye..." She makes the distinction a couple of times, even after chapter 4. I think I finished chapter 7.
Mod
How interesting Tambu's aunt, Maiguru, is - she's represented as a conventional housewifey woman, and then we learn she has an MPhil! That whole conversation is excellent as Maiguru acknowledges how no-one is interested in her intelligence, assumes she was in London only to look after her husband - including Tambu (and us). Her comment about the tension between security and self seems important.
I also like how this chapter is like a riff on the English school story: I'm reminded of Frost in May, for example, and similar adolescent girl coming of age tales.
Mod
I don't think the reviews I've read have mentioned how funny this is at times: the family Chrismas with everyone crammed into the homestead is brilliantly done with all the various tensions, the alliances and quarrels, and ends with the women laughing at the men. Even here, its a complicated kind of humour, with power being contested but not overcome.
As we rapidly become Shona authorities I saw this news item about actress Thandi(w)e Newton and thought it might be of interest
Actress Thandie Newton has said she is reverting to the original Zimbabwean spelling of her first name, Thandiwe. The actress has hitherto been known as Thandie, an anglicised version of her name with the "w" absent. The actress, whose full name is Melanie Thandiwe Newton, said her name was misspelled in the credits to her first film in 1991, Flirting, which co-starred Nicole Kidman and Noah Taylor.
Thandiwe (pronounced "tan-DEE-way") means " beloved" in Shona
Coincidentally her Zimbabwean mother's name is Nyasha
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainm...
Alwynne wrote: "this is a list I found online that might be useful"!"..."Thanks for this list Alwynne. Its filled in a few more gaps in my efforts to fully comprehend the interrelationships in Nervous Conditions.
I think its quite difficult to follow who is talking about who in this book (and I was struck by Brian's comment on Friday I find my actual reading of this book to be a bit sluggish. This sluggishness puzzles me . I know exactly how you feel, and I found that I got on much better once I'd compiled a spider chart of who's who (and alternate name) list.
Drawing on, and adding to, Alwynne's list
babamukuru uncle AKA Mukoma his birth name.
Mukoma's immediate extended family (blood relations) include Tete Gladys, and Tambu's father Jeremiah.
babawa Chido another name for Babamukuru
hanzvadzi sibling of the opposite sex
mainini mother, aunt, younger sister, junior wife, daughter of mother’s brother
sisi sister, also used for unmarried females of a family
tete father’s sister
mukoma older sibling of the same sex as the speaker
"Amai" (often shortened to "Mai") is the correct word for mother. Thus the husband of a Mainini is "Babumunini" (Little/Young Father) and a "Maiguru" is the opposite, meaning "Big Mother" or aunt married to the eldest male in the family (Babamukuru, Big/Elder Father)
Such is the complexity and interchangeability that "maiguru" can be applied to a range of relationships:
1. Maternal aunt.
2. Elder sister of one's paternal uncle.
3. One's father's senior wife.
4. Wife of one's (cousin) brother.
5. Elder sister to one's wife.
I frequently had to stop and take stock of the characters and their extended family relationships in Nervous Condition, and interestingly the sequel The Book of Not includes a "Who's Who" list of twenty five characters.
Thanks Jonathan that's great, I'm not finding it as confusing as I thought I might, reminds me of other cultures in which family relations are used for naming and switched around, but useful reference material.
Mod
I've just finished the book and liked it a lot. I thought that this was originally published as a standalone but the end implies the first part with a sequel to follow - I'm not sure if TD had planned a trilogy at that point.
I think I'd expected this to develop the story further (I read This Mournable Body so know how the trilogy ends) but it's one of theose books where many of the important events are internalised.
Who has or plans to read The Book of Not? I love TD's titles and that one implies absences and losses - I will definitely get to it.
As the book ends implying a sequel, it does leave the reader at a point where, like a TV series, you want to turn in for season 2. While I am tempted by the ending to read on, I did struggle with the writing a bit.I am also concerned that the next two books in the series have low GR ratings of 3.54 and 3.34, respectively, while Nervous Conditions had a 4.0 rating. Usually, the ratings are similar or even improve for sequels as the readers who read on are the ones who likely rated the first book higher.
The number of ratings is interesting too as Nervous Conditions gets 12,854, then it decreases dramatically down to only 561 for The Book of Not before increasing, probably due to being on the Booker shortlist, to 2,305 for This Mournable Body.
Despite this, I am still considering reading the first sequel. If this were a TV show, I'd try out the first episode or two of season 2 and only continue if I liked where it was going. However, I am psychologically unable to do the same with a book, as I hate to DNF books.
Mod
Having read Mournable, there's a whole chunk of story in book 2 which seems important to the overall arc of Tambu's experience.
I read all three in a jumbled order.I think you are on the right lines, RC, in the lack of availability. It was out of print recently as you say, but it also first appeared in 2006 and the climate in Zimbabwe for publishing Engllish language books (and maybe the subject matter) was not welcoming.
If you "like" the character of Tambu, there is a lot to like in The Book of Not. For me it was the weakest of the three, and certainly if you had read The Book of Not first I suspect it might have been disappointing.
Mod
I like that you put 'like' in inverted commas, Jonathan, because the likability, or not, of Tambu seems one of the interesting threads in the trilogy.
There are complicated shifts in the way she and Nyasha are seen by the family and outsiders - and the whole concept of female likability is often bound up with gendered and oppressively patriarchal pressures - that 'nice' girls are quiet, obedient, don't cause trouble etc.
Maiguru is interesting in this respect with her silence about her postgrad degree and that mini rebellion which she stages, but she's also complicit in putting pressures on the girls.
RCAre Tambu and Nyasha seen by the family and outsiders in similar vein?
I’m not sure.
Nyasha’s English education (in England) is seen by some as a corrupting influence. Tambu didn’t get this.
Tambu is for the most part compliant whereas Nyasha is the character more than any other who is aware of the multiple influences being brought to bear on her(family, educational, colonial), and she doesn’t like any of them.
Mod
I’m not sure."
There are both similarities and differences, I think. Nyasha seems outwardly the more sophisticated and politically-aware. Yet Tambu's maize scheme to fund her own education is breathtakingly ambitious and proactive for a child - she seems to show this natural agency without the benefit of what we might call 'book learning' i.e. it's not driven by any intellectual understanding of what's 'right' or not for a girl.
The debates about what is owed to the family and father are interesting: some of those scenes between Nyasha and her parents, especially her father, are shocking. Tambu certainly appears more compliant at that stage of her life to different forms of authority.
Yet, it's Nyasha who proves the more vulnerable at the end (view spoiler)
Reading the 20th Century
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Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
This discussion will open on or around 1 April 2021
A modern classic in the African literary canon and voted in the Top Ten Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century, this novel brings to the politics of decolonization theory the energy of women's rights. An extraordinarily well-crafted work, this book is a work of vision. Through its deft negotiation of race, class, gender and cultural change, it dramatizes the 'nervousness' of the 'postcolonial' conditions that bedevil us still. In Tambu and the women of her family, we African women see ourselves, whether at home or displaced, doing daily battle with our changing world with a mixture of tenacity, bewilderment and grace.