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By the author of "Bones", winner of the 1989 Noma Award. This novel traces African national history and identity from the turn of the 19th century to the eve of Zimbabwe's independence.
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First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 23, 2023
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.
1850. Miriro is born deaf and dumb into an unwelcoming African village and a life of painful isolation; she is shunned by her family and forced into an unhappy and tragic marriage.
The character is rife with stereotypes. For example, she did not cry at birth—stereotypical deaf-mutism. But she later growls like a dog? Then cannot “cry for attention.” She is surrounded by “darkness” (silence) and can read sadness in others but not their moving lips.
After Miriro dies by suicide, she becomes able to hear her life from the moment of her birth, the things that happened and what people said of her (and of course she understands and speaks the language). Not just this but all stories of all time and all languages are accessible to her after death. (Does this include those in signed languages? It's never mentioned.)
In the male narrator’s dream, a “deaf-and-dumb woman” (Miriro) speaks the words, “I am angry.” Miriro asks the narrator to speak her story to those who hear. So the narrator is serving the function of an interpreter at best, and hearing savior at worst, because apparently he is the only one who can do this for her.
Anyway, Miriro is married off, she withdraws from society (refuses to look anyone in the face), and randomly dies one night (she suicides, but there is no mention of how she did it, how she knew how to do it, or really why she did it), completing her transition into ghosthood so that she can hear-speak. Honestly, this reminds me of Star Wars, with Padme dying of a "broken heart" while Anakin’s charred remains are scraped into a life-support suit. Bruh.
In this novel, it’s not Miriro, it’s the *idea* of Miriro that is of interest.
Other issues:
-Dehumanization. “You hear them without hearing them. You are deaf and dumb. A zombie. A ghost.” —In other words, deaf people are not human, but more like supernatural creatures.
-Deaf is usually used in context of ignoring someone or disbelieving them. It still is prevalent today, despite the ableist assumption behind it that deaf people are ignorant.
Ultimately, there really wasn’t much point to Miriro as a character except as a “pure” ancestor figure that serves to question the status quo. She also barely appeared.
1850. Miriro is born deaf and dumb into an unwelcoming African village and a life of painful isolation; she is shunned by her family and forced into an unhappy and tragic marriage.
The character is rife with stereotypes. For example, she did not cry at birth—stereotypical deaf-mutism. But she later growls like a dog? Then cannot “cry for attention.” She is surrounded by “darkness” (silence) and can read sadness in others but not their moving lips.
After Miriro dies by suicide, she becomes able to hear her life from the moment of her birth, the things that happened and what people said of her (and of course she understands and speaks the language). Not just this but all stories of all time and all languages are accessible to her after death. (Does this include those in signed languages? It's never mentioned.)
In the male narrator’s dream, a “deaf-and-dumb woman” (Miriro) speaks the words, “I am angry.” Miriro asks the narrator to speak her story to those who hear. So the narrator is serving the function of an interpreter at best, and hearing savior at worst, because apparently he is the only one who can do this for her.
Anyway, Miriro is married off, she withdraws from society (refuses to look anyone in the face), and randomly dies one night (she suicides, but there is no mention of how she did it, how she knew how to do it, or really why she did it), completing her transition into ghosthood so that she can hear-speak. Honestly, this reminds me of Star Wars, with Padme dying of a "broken heart" while Anakin’s charred remains are scraped into a life-support suit. Bruh.
In this novel, it’s not Miriro, it’s the *idea* of Miriro that is of interest.
Other issues:
-Dehumanization. “You hear them without hearing them. You are deaf and dumb. A zombie. A ghost.” —In other words, deaf people are not human, but more like supernatural creatures.
-Deaf is usually used in context of ignoring someone or disbelieving them. It still is prevalent today, despite the ableist assumption behind it that deaf people are ignorant.
Ultimately, there really wasn’t much point to Miriro as a character except as a “pure” ancestor figure that serves to question the status quo. She also barely appeared.
December 30, 2019
3/5 Stars.
To complex. Begs to be reread and analyzed. Beautiful. Full RTC.
To complex. Begs to be reread and analyzed. Beautiful. Full RTC.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews