Yaka

by Pepetela

Yaka gives a panoramic view of the events that shaped Angola from 1890 through the next century as reflected in the life of the Semedo family. From the nineteenth century penal colony, through slavery, African uprisings, and land expropriation, Yaka charts the formation of a nation. Alexandre Semedo's father, convicted of murder, is transported from Portugal to Angola at the turn of the century. As time passes, the Semedo family becomes increasingly intertwined with Black Angola. Alexandre begins to see why the enigmatic Yaka statue, which he inherited from his father, is a symbol for his country.

Genres: Angola, Africa, Historical Fiction, Fiction

307 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos is a major Angolan writer of fiction. He writes under the name Pepetela.

A white Angolan, Pepetela fought as a member of the MPLA in the long guerrilla war for Angola's independence. Much of his writing deals with Angola's political history in the 20th century. Mayombe, for example, is a novel that portrays the lives of a group of MPLA guerrillas who are involved in the anti-colonial struggle, Yaka follows the lives of members of a white settler family in the coastal town of Benguela, and A Geração da Utopia reveals the disillusionment of young Angolans during the post-independence period. Pepetela has also written about Angola's earlier history in A Gloriosa Família and Lueji, and has expanded into satire with his series of Jaime Bunda novels. His most recent works include Predadores, a scathing critique of Angola's ruling classes, O Quase Fim do Mundo, a post-apocalyptic allegory, and O Planalto e a Estepe, a look at Angola's history and connections with other former communist nations. Pepetela won the Camões Prize, the world's highest honour for Lusophone literature, in 1997. Pepetela is a Kimbundu word that means "eyelash," as does "pestana" in Portuguese. The author received this nickname during his time fighting with the MPLA.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A social-political history of Angola over several decades in the lives of 3 generations.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my freshmen year lit seminar in Portuguese and Creole Literatures in Translation. Really interesting read. More interesting was the analysis in the class of what translations in themselves meant, and what implication such an element has for literature on the whole.

[Symulakrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Już dawno tak bardzo nie potrzebowałam połówek gwiazdek w ocenach, jak w tej książce. Samo doświadczenie czytania nie było jakieś super, pod koniec lektura już trochę mnie wymęczyła, ale też zdecydowanie coś wartościowego mi dała. W ciekawy sposób pokazuje 100 lat przemian politycznych i społecznych w historii na przykładzie losów jednej rodziny. I to rodziny, która nie jest (z własnej woli) jakoś mocno zaangażowana, tylko dryfuje z nurtem zmian i daje sobą sterować innym. I rozumiem, że właśnie dlatego te ich losy się tu trochę kręcą w kółko i miotają bezcelowo. Ale też z tego wynika to, że pod koniec już nuży i trochę ma się wrażenie, że ta historia nigdy się nie skończy.

Natomiast są też w tej książce momenty absolutnie genialne, kiedy w dynamicznym ciągu a'la strumień świadomości (ale narratorem nie jest tu osoba) dostajemy zbiór info z różnych porządków czasu i przestrzeni, dotyczących wielu bohaterów na raz, zarówno w mikroskali głównej rodziny, jak i całej grupy społecznej czy regionu.

Po polsku wydał to GlowBook i:
1. Super, że wydali powieść z Angoli i super jest posłowie od tłumacza na koniec, gdzie trochę dobudowuje kontekst. W recenzjach na Goodreads (których, w momencie jak to pisałam, jest raptem sześć) najwięcej pojawia się komentarzy o języku i tłumaczeniu. Charchalis w ostatnim akapicie posłowia tłumaczy, że to ważna książka, bo pisana jest językiem, który można określić mianem protoangolskiego.
2. Ale pliz, następnym razem weźcie sobie może jeszcze jedną osobę do korekty, bo ilość literówek w tej książce jest zatrważająca. Mega wybija to z lektury.

[Xico Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro que antes de o ler já era especial mas que após a sua leitura se tornou algo ainda maior. Uma estátua Yaka que não é mais que a própria consciência de Alexandre, "Posso então me desequilibrar do soco e ficar em cacos pelo chão, a boca para um lado, os olhos pelo mar, o coração embaixo da terra, o sexo para o Norte e as pernas para o Sul? Ou será melhor aguardar ainda?". Yaka vai assistindo a vida deste desde o nascimento a morte, "Merda, o pai tinha razão, a política é demasiado complicada. Preferia pensar na Njaya, era mais simples. É mesmo? Porra de vida, um gajo nunca tem sossego".
Yaka acaba por assistir do lado dos colonos a presença mais intensa de Portugal em Angola, "-É mais ou menos como um presente caído do céu. Não se faz nada, dorme-se, acorda-se, e o dinheiro está na mesinha de cabeceira, ou no sapatinho, é a mesma coisa. Não acredita no Pai Natal, capitão?
-Nao.
-Nem eu. Até porque neste caso sou eu o Pai Natal...
-Está bem, Pai Natal. Vamos deixar sair os bois para o pasto"; até a queda desta colonização horrenda, "Tyenda não ia mais casar com Ondomba. Já não ia pentear nele a grande trufa, já não diria o meu filho pode agora tomar mulher?", "Quantos morrem todos os dias e ninguém fala deles", "Sempre fomos homens cegos e fracos a querer travar as tempestades com as mãos. Acreditando ser heróis. Heróis do mar, Nação valente e imortal... Não é isso que diz o Hino? Sempre fomos uns palhaços batidos pelas ondas e puxados pelas correntes. Que somos nós para enfrentar o mar?".

[Daniel Polansky]

A multi-generational narrative of the whites (mostly ex-convicts) living in a small city in southern Angola, impoverished vagabonds exploiting the native population in a miserable quest to survive. Pepetela is the pseudonym of a Portuguese-Angolan who fought with the MPLA, and this feels like a very personal mea culpa. Excellent in any event, a sympathetic but not at all forgiving depiction of the strange struggles of colonial existence. It's really astonishing how much excellent fiction came out of the relatively small population of Lusitanian Africa.

[Paulo Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

(PT) Três gerações de Angola na pena de Pepetela, entre o final do século XIX e 1975, entre a definição final das fronteiras angolanas e os dias anteriores à independência. Alexandre Semedo é um branco nascido em Angola que cresce rodeado de dois mundos: o europeu, e o africano, representado pela estatueta Yaka.

[Sansão Gomes · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 gerações dos Semedo, aos olhos de uma estátua. É difícil não sentir repulsa pelas atrocidades cometidas pelos colonos em Angola ao ler este livro. Nota-se que o autor não quis varrer nada para debaixo do tapete mas não apresenta estes fatos raivoso, à procura de um ajuste de contas.

[Lourenço De · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tipica obra de autor a querer engraxar o regime, com estereótipos anti-coloniais primários, quase infantis.

[Luís Matias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro que toca na nossa humanidade interior. Recomendo.