Masimba Musodza's Blog: Writer's Blog - Posts Tagged "aquilina"

Aquilina

In 2011, I published the science-fiction novel MunaHacha Maive Nei? It was widely acclaimed, which encouraged me to publish the novella, Aqulina (kana kuti, Reururo yaHatifari Maforimbo) on Amazon Kindle. Unfortunately, Kindle at that time only published in two African languages (Afrikaans and KiSwahili). So, I had to drop that project.

Then, in 2019, after I set up the Belontos Books imprint, I published both a print and electronic version. Every copy of the print edition sold out, and hundreds of ebooks were downloaded, which delighted me to no end. By the middle of 2020, it looked like all the attention the novella could possibly get had expired. I shelved plans to put it and its English translation on to a Print-on-Demand platform, and pursued other projects.

Then, earlier this year, I met Samantha Vazhure at the Britain Zimbabwe Society's Book Festival in London. I was already aware of the work she was doing with her Carnelian Heart Publishing, through which I discovered a new generation of Zimbabwean literary voices, such as Cynthia R. Marangwanda and David Chasumba. I asked her if she would consider reissuing the English translation of Aquilina. The rest, as they say, is history.

The history of the novella itself is long, spanning the history of post-Indepence Zimbabwe itself. Many features of that history as I experienced it are embedded in the story. Teachers sent to remote parts of the country, where they could not always bring their families and the toll this had on marriages. Domestic violence, and the public retribution towards a woman caught in the act of adultery. The rise of feminist activism at the University of Zimbabwe, with marches for the right to wear miniskirts without fear of harassment. The emergence of transactional sexual relationships. Organised violence by women towards other women perceived as love rivals.

These are horrible features for any society to have, yet sometimes I wonder if I am the only Zimbabwean who is horrified by them, given that many of my compatriots are more appalled that I write horror fiction, which, to them, is a sign that I must be a practitioner of some evil, occult religion. Yet, as Zimbabwean feminist writer and activist, Edinah Masanga, noted in 2015, "If there is one thing that anyone who has read Musodza’s previous novel in Shona will have learnt to expect, it is a fearsome monster. He holds up his imaginary monster like a mirror against the real monsters of Zimbabwean society."

Is Aquilina Chiwande a fearsome monster? That is precisely how her precurser, a figure of modern Zimbabwean mythology, is presented. I am referring to Peggy the Ghost Prostitute. To me, she represents the carryover of the dangerous woman motif from the cautionary traditional folk tales told around the family fire to the urban setting I grew up in.

Another source of inspiration was a late-night American movie I watched in parts, as I was dozing off on the sofa. It is the story of a rich young man stranded on a desert island. He is joined by a very beautiful woman, a survivor from another yacht. They become a couple. However, she begins to act like his domineering mother, so he murders her. When he is finally rescued, he confesses to his crime. The sailors who rescue him dig all over the island, but find no body. In fact, there is no evidence at all that during this man's stay on the island, there had been anyone else.

I have tried to recover the name of the movie, entering different versions of the plot summary into online searches, but all in vain. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear from you.