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The Heart of Redness: A Novel
A startling novel by the leading writer of the new South Africa
In The Heart of Redness -- shortlisted for the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize -- Zakes Mda sets a story of South African village life against a notorious episode from the country's past. The result is a novel of great scope and deep human feeling, of passion and reconciliation.
As the novel opens Camugu, who left for America during apartheid, has returned to Johannesburg. Disillusioned by the problems of the new democracy, he follows his "famous lust" to Qolorha on the remote Eastern Cape. There in the nineteenth century a teenage prophetess named Nonqawuse commanded the Xhosa people to kill their cattle and burn their crops, promising that once they did so the spirits of their ancestors would rise and drive the occupying English into the ocean. The failed prophecy split the Xhosa into Believers and Unbelievers, dividing brother from brother, wife from husband, with devastating consequences.
One hundred fifty years later, the two groups' decendants are at odds over plans to build a vast casino and tourist resort in the village, and Camugu is soon drawn into their heritage and their future -- and into a bizarre love triangle as well.
The Heart of Redness is a seamless weave of history, myth, and realist fiction. It is, arguably, the first great novel of the new South Africa -- a triumph of imaginative and historical writing.
In The Heart of Redness -- shortlisted for the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize -- Zakes Mda sets a story of South African village life against a notorious episode from the country's past. The result is a novel of great scope and deep human feeling, of passion and reconciliation.
As the novel opens Camugu, who left for America during apartheid, has returned to Johannesburg. Disillusioned by the problems of the new democracy, he follows his "famous lust" to Qolorha on the remote Eastern Cape. There in the nineteenth century a teenage prophetess named Nonqawuse commanded the Xhosa people to kill their cattle and burn their crops, promising that once they did so the spirits of their ancestors would rise and drive the occupying English into the ocean. The failed prophecy split the Xhosa into Believers and Unbelievers, dividing brother from brother, wife from husband, with devastating consequences.
One hundred fifty years later, the two groups' decendants are at odds over plans to build a vast casino and tourist resort in the village, and Camugu is soon drawn into their heritage and their future -- and into a bizarre love triangle as well.
The Heart of Redness is a seamless weave of history, myth, and realist fiction. It is, arguably, the first great novel of the new South Africa -- a triumph of imaginative and historical writing.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
79 people are currently reading
3649 people want to read
About the author
Zakes Mda
33 books259 followersZakes Mda is the pen name of Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda, a novelist, poet and playwright.
Although he spent his early childhood in Soweto (where he knew political figures such as Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela) he had to finish his education in Lesotho where his father went into exile since 1963. This change of setting also meant a change of language for Mda: from isiXhosa to Sesotho. Consequently Mda preferred to write his first plays in English.
His first play, We Shall Sing for the Fatherland, won the first Amstel Playwright of the Year Award in 1978, a feat he repeated the following year. He worked as a bank clerk, a teacher and in marketing before the publication of We Shall Sing for the Fatherland and Other Plays in 1980 enabled him to be admitted to the Ohio University for a three-year Master's degree in theatre. He completed a Masters Degree in Theatre at Ohio University, after which he obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Mass Communication. By 1984 his plays were performed in the USSR, the USA, and Scotland as well as in various parts of southern Africa.
Mda then returned to Lesotho, first working with the Lesotho National Broadcasting Corporation Television Project and then as a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Lesotho. Between 1985 and 1992 he was director of the Theatre-For-Development Project at the university and founded the Marotholi Travelling Theatre. Together with his students he travelled to villages in remote mountain regions working with local people in creating theatre around their everyday concerns. This work of writing theatre "from the inside" was the theme of his doctoral thesis, the Ph.D degree being conferred on him by the University of Cape Town in 1989.
In the early nineties Mda spent much of his time overseas, he was writer-in-residence at the University of Durham (1991), research fellow at Yale University. He returned for one year to South Africa as Visiting Professor at the School of Dramatic Art at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is presently Professor of Creative Writing at Ohio University.
Although he spent his early childhood in Soweto (where he knew political figures such as Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela) he had to finish his education in Lesotho where his father went into exile since 1963. This change of setting also meant a change of language for Mda: from isiXhosa to Sesotho. Consequently Mda preferred to write his first plays in English.
His first play, We Shall Sing for the Fatherland, won the first Amstel Playwright of the Year Award in 1978, a feat he repeated the following year. He worked as a bank clerk, a teacher and in marketing before the publication of We Shall Sing for the Fatherland and Other Plays in 1980 enabled him to be admitted to the Ohio University for a three-year Master's degree in theatre. He completed a Masters Degree in Theatre at Ohio University, after which he obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Mass Communication. By 1984 his plays were performed in the USSR, the USA, and Scotland as well as in various parts of southern Africa.
Mda then returned to Lesotho, first working with the Lesotho National Broadcasting Corporation Television Project and then as a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Lesotho. Between 1985 and 1992 he was director of the Theatre-For-Development Project at the university and founded the Marotholi Travelling Theatre. Together with his students he travelled to villages in remote mountain regions working with local people in creating theatre around their everyday concerns. This work of writing theatre "from the inside" was the theme of his doctoral thesis, the Ph.D degree being conferred on him by the University of Cape Town in 1989.
In the early nineties Mda spent much of his time overseas, he was writer-in-residence at the University of Durham (1991), research fellow at Yale University. He returned for one year to South Africa as Visiting Professor at the School of Dramatic Art at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is presently Professor of Creative Writing at Ohio University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
September 20, 2018
This is the story of Camagu who returns to South Africa from America. He becomes disillusioned with the new democracy and moves to the Eastern Cape where the Xhosa people live; he follows a woman he heard sing at a funeral. He does not find her but finds a people split between Believers and Unbelievers; two strands of the same family/ancestors. In the nineteenth century a young prophetess commanded the people to destroy their cattle and crops; if they did the ancestors would rise and drive the white people out of the land. The people are split in two groups as described above; a hundred years later their descendants are still at odds. They now argue about a plan to build a casino and tourist resort. Camagu walks into this and becomes embroiled in a love triangle with two women; one from each group.
This is a powerful, funny and tragic story, lovingly and tenderly told. There are shades of Conrad here; from Heart of Darkness; although the concept of Redness is much more complex. It also reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and there is a strong thread of magic realism. It is a political satire and an examination of South Africa's past and present. I had not read this author before and barely heard of him; a significant gap in my reading and I will make an effort to read more in the future.
This is a magical book; simple and complex and a parable for our times as well as the story of a people.
This is a powerful, funny and tragic story, lovingly and tenderly told. There are shades of Conrad here; from Heart of Darkness; although the concept of Redness is much more complex. It also reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and there is a strong thread of magic realism. It is a political satire and an examination of South Africa's past and present. I had not read this author before and barely heard of him; a significant gap in my reading and I will make an effort to read more in the future.
This is a magical book; simple and complex and a parable for our times as well as the story of a people.
December 6, 2021
Kitapta, aynı kabile içindeki inanç çatışması ve “beyaz adam” tarafından gelen işgal, bölge halkının gücü eline alamaması için yönetim kadrolarına uygulanan baskı ve kontrolü elde tutma derdi, bozulmamış kıyıların işgalcilerin eğlence anlayışına göre harap edilme savaşı gibi güncel konuları gerçekten dikkatinizi kitapta tutuyor. Ancak kitapta çok fazla geçmişe dönüş var ve bir noktadan sonra ben bu geri dönüşlerden, devamlı farklı isimleri okumaktan yoruldum.
October 19, 2010
what a book, i enjoy it.As a Xhosa i felt unease because of some the charecters.When reading the book i identify some themes this of course was all done in my understanding.the first theme that seem to prevail throught out the novel is the clash of cultures.this could be seen in Xoliswa Ximiya, she embraces the western culutre at the expense of her traditional culture.she sees her people as being outdated by following the thier culture, her traditional culture is as if its an obstilce for progress.The sad part about all this is that the book maybe fictitious but the content fully depicts the sentiments of some of my people that's the hurting part.Another theme although it did not play out through the novel, is the battle when a man is a man in Xhosa culture.Camagu was the victim of this, when they questioned him of whether he is a man or not. Camagu was in exile for 30 years in America. Obviously there the is no custome as that of Xhosa people, hence they wanted to know whether he was circumcised at they surprise he was. but not in the same manner they consider respectful.Camagu had done it in hospital not in the mountain as expected from Xhosa boys. The last thing that the novel had shown is how greedy and corrupt the cabinet ministers are. and how the so called black empowermant only serves few people who 'NETWORK' their way to the top, by networking in the novel is understood as getting a job corruptly. If i completely missed the mark in analyising this book, please feel free to correct me. As i have sad this was done in my understanding. Another thing analysing books is a new thing that i just started doing for myself.
March 26, 2013
My thoughts:
• First I needed to remind myself that this novel was published in 2002 and at that time this was a very forwarding novel and a way to present the political/cultural issues South Africa at the time the book was published
• Understand some of the historical background helps with the understanding of the book and the issues presented
• In some ways the book is very universal in its themes and presentation – especially for cultures/countries that were colonized and the native cultures were suppressed or not consulted with. And of course there is the age old question on what is progress and how the different definitions applies to different groups
• I would agree that the recurring flashbacks on the historical information at times got redundant and slowed down the plot.
• I would say while the author tried to present both sides of the issue I would say that he does take a stand and the reader will know which way he leans
• Did a good job of showing that most the issues even when you pick sides are not black and white but a lot of gray.
• It also showed that there was much manipulations going on both sides by those who wanted a certain outcome and the loser in both cases would be the common people
• I learned the history and culture of region I did not know much about except how it was presented in the US media
• The themes and issues were also pertinent to me as the US as been in a stalemate on a number of issues over the last couple of years and neither side does not want to give
• First I needed to remind myself that this novel was published in 2002 and at that time this was a very forwarding novel and a way to present the political/cultural issues South Africa at the time the book was published
• Understand some of the historical background helps with the understanding of the book and the issues presented
• In some ways the book is very universal in its themes and presentation – especially for cultures/countries that were colonized and the native cultures were suppressed or not consulted with. And of course there is the age old question on what is progress and how the different definitions applies to different groups
• I would agree that the recurring flashbacks on the historical information at times got redundant and slowed down the plot.
• I would say while the author tried to present both sides of the issue I would say that he does take a stand and the reader will know which way he leans
• Did a good job of showing that most the issues even when you pick sides are not black and white but a lot of gray.
• It also showed that there was much manipulations going on both sides by those who wanted a certain outcome and the loser in both cases would be the common people
• I learned the history and culture of region I did not know much about except how it was presented in the US media
• The themes and issues were also pertinent to me as the US as been in a stalemate on a number of issues over the last couple of years and neither side does not want to give
August 31, 2021
Refaha, berekete kavuşacakları vaadiyle halka evcil hayvanlarını öldürten, tarlalarını yaktıran sahte peygamberlerin öyküsü.
June 23, 2016
Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness is one book which has been cropping up a lot in my working life. When I started working as a librarian proper in the fall of 2006 I came across two battered copies of The Heart of Redness. As I was doing a major weeding operation at the time, I felt that these books should not be thrown or given as I found the subject matter to be useful as a teaching aid. I stored them in my cupboard for safe keeping.
Come a few weeks ago and I discover that this book is on the list so I ordered a copy from Amazon (yeah I know but it was unavailable outside of Europe at the time) Only when receiving it that I had two copies stored aside. A D’oh! moment if there ever was one!
Mda tale entwines South African history with present day South African politics. Its plot is very labyrinthine so I’ll try to explain it as clearly as possible.
Back in the 1850’s the child prophet Nongqawuse told the Xhosa tribe that if they killed all their cattle, The British colonial government will leave South Africa and a new breed of cattle will arise out of the sea. This divided the tribe into people who believed this prophecy (believers) and those who were sceptical (unbelievers) unfortunately the prophecy did not work out and the tribe died of starvation or resorted to cannibalism.
We jump forward to the late 90’s and we find out that a scholar from Johannesburg, called Camagu decides to visit the Xhosa people in order to find a woman who has been haunting him. Upon arriving Camagu sees that the tribe is still divided. This time the believers are seen as people who hate progress and the Unbelievers, people who want a progressive change in their village. In the midst of this a casino is going to be built which divides opinions.
To complicate matters even more Camagu falls in love with the daughters of both factions and i forced to make a decision.
In The Heart of Redness (which signifies The Xhosa tribe’s traditional culture) the history of Nongqawuse is closely entwined with modern day South Africa so Mda shows us how the past and present reflect each other. There are crumbs of humour but it focuses on how modernization and capitalism can influence a certain type of mentality. Mda piles on a lot of memorable scenes as Camagu learns the way of the Xhosa people and the book ends on a ambiguous note, which could mean that progress is still unresolved. It’s a book that clearly gets your brain cells jumping.
It’s funny that it takes off where Dan Sleigh’s Islands finishes however I disliked Sleigh’s book, which tackled the same subject except in more depth. It’s clearly a case of how you tell your story then what is in your story!
Come a few weeks ago and I discover that this book is on the list so I ordered a copy from Amazon (yeah I know but it was unavailable outside of Europe at the time) Only when receiving it that I had two copies stored aside. A D’oh! moment if there ever was one!
Mda tale entwines South African history with present day South African politics. Its plot is very labyrinthine so I’ll try to explain it as clearly as possible.
Back in the 1850’s the child prophet Nongqawuse told the Xhosa tribe that if they killed all their cattle, The British colonial government will leave South Africa and a new breed of cattle will arise out of the sea. This divided the tribe into people who believed this prophecy (believers) and those who were sceptical (unbelievers) unfortunately the prophecy did not work out and the tribe died of starvation or resorted to cannibalism.
We jump forward to the late 90’s and we find out that a scholar from Johannesburg, called Camagu decides to visit the Xhosa people in order to find a woman who has been haunting him. Upon arriving Camagu sees that the tribe is still divided. This time the believers are seen as people who hate progress and the Unbelievers, people who want a progressive change in their village. In the midst of this a casino is going to be built which divides opinions.
To complicate matters even more Camagu falls in love with the daughters of both factions and i forced to make a decision.
In The Heart of Redness (which signifies The Xhosa tribe’s traditional culture) the history of Nongqawuse is closely entwined with modern day South Africa so Mda shows us how the past and present reflect each other. There are crumbs of humour but it focuses on how modernization and capitalism can influence a certain type of mentality. Mda piles on a lot of memorable scenes as Camagu learns the way of the Xhosa people and the book ends on a ambiguous note, which could mean that progress is still unresolved. It’s a book that clearly gets your brain cells jumping.
It’s funny that it takes off where Dan Sleigh’s Islands finishes however I disliked Sleigh’s book, which tackled the same subject except in more depth. It’s clearly a case of how you tell your story then what is in your story!
January 24, 2013
Writing, and introducing, the Xhosa customs and stories to the world in this book, Zakes Mda
conjures up a landscape so beautiful and so unknown to many people, with such warm hearted people, that the reader is left with a yearning to meet the characters and visit the hidden paradise. It is an excellent novel.
conjures up a landscape so beautiful and so unknown to many people, with such warm hearted people, that the reader is left with a yearning to meet the characters and visit the hidden paradise. It is an excellent novel.
July 18, 2014
I came across this novel because it was listed as part of a blog post on Facebook, 20 Moments that Changed History: A Reading List. This is how it was described: "The parallel story of colonized South Africa of 150 years ago and post-apartheid South Africa...this is a book that you will devour because it's so well written, and yet it will stay with you." Published in 2000, I suspect that the author, Zakes Mda, hoped to illuminate problems facing contemporary South Africa by revisiting an extraordinary historical event, the cattle-killing crisis of 1856-57. In response to a virulent cattle disease, it was prophesied that the entire cattle population must be slaughtered before a renewed era of prosperity would occur. According to Mda, British imperialists exploited this tragedy - and the subsequent famine - to impair tribal power and to seize land from the natives.
He neatly links the colonial experience to the modern, polarizing impact of development in this back-water paradise on the east coast of South Africa. He raises intriguing questions about tourism in a developing country and the contradictions of spirituality and faith. He envisions a model for development that is based on cooperative ownership, environmental sustainability, and historical accuracy. Despite some stilted dialogue, he writes with flair and assurance, although I found the African names and words, which he kindly translates, to be a hindrance to my full appreciation. Jumping back and forth between modernity and colonial times reminded me of the experience of watching television as a kid back in the 1950's. Even when the reception was good, once the set warmed up, the picture would begin to drift. You had a few options: you could reach around to the back of the TV to fiddle with the controls; you could wait patiently for the picture to come back into focus, sometimes seizing the disruption as an opportunity to pop some more corn; or you might even give up entirely and pick up a book. When such interference is part of the book, your options are more limited. If you aren't as linguistically inept as I am - or as unfocused - you might find these factors less challenging.
He neatly links the colonial experience to the modern, polarizing impact of development in this back-water paradise on the east coast of South Africa. He raises intriguing questions about tourism in a developing country and the contradictions of spirituality and faith. He envisions a model for development that is based on cooperative ownership, environmental sustainability, and historical accuracy. Despite some stilted dialogue, he writes with flair and assurance, although I found the African names and words, which he kindly translates, to be a hindrance to my full appreciation. Jumping back and forth between modernity and colonial times reminded me of the experience of watching television as a kid back in the 1950's. Even when the reception was good, once the set warmed up, the picture would begin to drift. You had a few options: you could reach around to the back of the TV to fiddle with the controls; you could wait patiently for the picture to come back into focus, sometimes seizing the disruption as an opportunity to pop some more corn; or you might even give up entirely and pick up a book. When such interference is part of the book, your options are more limited. If you aren't as linguistically inept as I am - or as unfocused - you might find these factors less challenging.
August 7, 2017
This book is certainly a fun way to learn about and understand some of the things what went on in kwaXhosa during the times of Nongqawuse. It is also a fun way to observe the cultural beliefs of the people and how they have evolved since those days. Makes you want to go see this valley where people congregated to witness people rising from within the sea and see how those who claimed to see visions might have been fooled into thinking they were seeing something. I know that psychology is a powerful thing and people who paddle beliefs master the understanding of the human psyche to some extensive extent in order to know how to architect their propaganda so that the masses will buy into it. Imagine the sight of all those starving people who willfully killed off and destroyed their own food and implements of survival. Turning the survival instinct on its head. The deluded minds of those who refused to let go of the fantasy despite glaring evidence of the fallacy of the things they believed in.
The whole conception of Heitsi 2 is also something I wish I understood was meant to reveal about Qukezwa or the whole lineage of Twin that is shrouded in mystery and supernatural abilities. The Heitsi Eibib part was my favourite. Son on Tsiqwa who lead his people to safety. When westerners think that they came up with all the great stories about life and where we come from while in fact those they claimed to know nothing were more enlightened than they could ever have hoped or dreamt to be.
British civilization continues to enjoy humiliation as its barbaric nature gets exposed more and more for what it truly was. More barbaric than they could have imagined us to be to justify their even bigger barbarism.
Thank you ntate Zakes for the lesson.
The whole conception of Heitsi 2 is also something I wish I understood was meant to reveal about Qukezwa or the whole lineage of Twin that is shrouded in mystery and supernatural abilities. The Heitsi Eibib part was my favourite. Son on Tsiqwa who lead his people to safety. When westerners think that they came up with all the great stories about life and where we come from while in fact those they claimed to know nothing were more enlightened than they could ever have hoped or dreamt to be.
British civilization continues to enjoy humiliation as its barbaric nature gets exposed more and more for what it truly was. More barbaric than they could have imagined us to be to justify their even bigger barbarism.
Thank you ntate Zakes for the lesson.
February 24, 2025
Camagu really big simping for 277 pages while his friend's ancestors starved to death
May 24, 2020
An interesting, mesmerising, supernatural, clever, memorable, partly historical fiction novel set in South Africa. The story swaps between the 1800s and the 1990s. It’s a novel about the traditions, myths and beliefs of black natives and the change that occurs with the settlement of the white man in South Africa. The story states that some blacks in the 1990s are still influenced by their history, myths, superstitions and religious beliefs.
There is a feud between the Believers and Unbelievers of the Eastern Cape village of Qolorha. Villagers take opposing sides on every issue. When a large casino and tourist resort is proposed in the village, the villages once again argue over their future. The novel questions and explores what ‘Africanness’ is.
Here are a couple of examples of the author’s writing style:
‘She is so beautiful. Xoliswa Ximiya. So staid and reliable. Qukezwa is not burdened with beauty. She is therefore able to be free spirited.’
‘There is nothing foolish about belief..It is the same sincerity of belief that has been seen throughout history and continues to be seen today where those who believe actually see miracles. The same sincerity of belief that causes thousands to commit mass suicide by drinking poison in Jonestown, Cuyana, because that world is coming to an end...or that leads men, women, and children to die willingly in flames with their prophet, David Korean, in Waco, Texas.’
There is a feud between the Believers and Unbelievers of the Eastern Cape village of Qolorha. Villagers take opposing sides on every issue. When a large casino and tourist resort is proposed in the village, the villages once again argue over their future. The novel questions and explores what ‘Africanness’ is.
Here are a couple of examples of the author’s writing style:
‘She is so beautiful. Xoliswa Ximiya. So staid and reliable. Qukezwa is not burdened with beauty. She is therefore able to be free spirited.’
‘There is nothing foolish about belief..It is the same sincerity of belief that has been seen throughout history and continues to be seen today where those who believe actually see miracles. The same sincerity of belief that causes thousands to commit mass suicide by drinking poison in Jonestown, Cuyana, because that world is coming to an end...or that leads men, women, and children to die willingly in flames with their prophet, David Korean, in Waco, Texas.’
July 8, 2020
FINALLY, I am introduced to the ill-famed prophetess Nongqawuse! insert lady-dancing-in-red-dress emoji here I have heard this name murmured amongst my Xhosa friends and have, silently, wondered about it's origin. It felt like an empty-cup-being-filled when she was introduced to me.
The story details the journey of Camagu from Johannesburg to Qolorha-by-Sea, lured by what I believe was a blend of lust and intrigue after he encounters a woman singing at a funeral. He then becomes embroiled in the battle between the Believers and the Unbelievers; a feud whose origin stems from hundreds of years prior when a young prophetess instructed the Xhosa people to kill their cattle and destroy their crops in order to drive out the white settlers, resulting in a faction caused by those who believed the prophecy and carried-out the instructions and those who did all in their might to stop their kin from destroying their nation; which was already at war with the settlers.
Of all the narratives presented in the book-the greed of those in power, the abandonment of traditional believes in pursuit of "civilised" Western culture, young men engulfed by the big city, broken hearts when love is not reciprocated, the remnants of colonialism, the effects of traditionalism-my absolute favourite was my introduction to the cattle-killing movement. I had never before heard this story and ntate Zakes tells it beautifully. Some readers may be deterred by the present-past alternation that occurs throughout the book, but I personally found it fascinating; every flashback gave me deeper insight into each faction of the Xhosa nation, laid a foundation of their beliefs and revealed how those beliefs carved their present customs.
Months after reading the book, I am left with this reeling, pestering thought; what happened to Nongqawuse after her detainment? Google says she was sent to a paupers' lodge and was held as a prisoner there for some time, but no further concrete evidence of her exists.
I cannot help but wonder...was the prophecy real? Was she manipulated? Was she so grief-stricken by the loss of her parents that her mind conjured up mirages? Or was she tricked by the settlers dressed as the ancestors to advance their destruction of the Xhosa nation? These are questions that now keep me up at night!
Thank you ntate Zakes for sharing this amazing story with us. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys venturing into the past to discover how the foundations of our present were laid.
4 shining stars from me!
The story details the journey of Camagu from Johannesburg to Qolorha-by-Sea, lured by what I believe was a blend of lust and intrigue after he encounters a woman singing at a funeral. He then becomes embroiled in the battle between the Believers and the Unbelievers; a feud whose origin stems from hundreds of years prior when a young prophetess instructed the Xhosa people to kill their cattle and destroy their crops in order to drive out the white settlers, resulting in a faction caused by those who believed the prophecy and carried-out the instructions and those who did all in their might to stop their kin from destroying their nation; which was already at war with the settlers.
Of all the narratives presented in the book-the greed of those in power, the abandonment of traditional believes in pursuit of "civilised" Western culture, young men engulfed by the big city, broken hearts when love is not reciprocated, the remnants of colonialism, the effects of traditionalism-my absolute favourite was my introduction to the cattle-killing movement. I had never before heard this story and ntate Zakes tells it beautifully. Some readers may be deterred by the present-past alternation that occurs throughout the book, but I personally found it fascinating; every flashback gave me deeper insight into each faction of the Xhosa nation, laid a foundation of their beliefs and revealed how those beliefs carved their present customs.
Months after reading the book, I am left with this reeling, pestering thought; what happened to Nongqawuse after her detainment? Google says she was sent to a paupers' lodge and was held as a prisoner there for some time, but no further concrete evidence of her exists.
I cannot help but wonder...was the prophecy real? Was she manipulated? Was she so grief-stricken by the loss of her parents that her mind conjured up mirages? Or was she tricked by the settlers dressed as the ancestors to advance their destruction of the Xhosa nation? These are questions that now keep me up at night!
Thank you ntate Zakes for sharing this amazing story with us. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys venturing into the past to discover how the foundations of our present were laid.
4 shining stars from me!
January 20, 2014
‘The Heart of Redness’ by Zakes Mda, is the work of a master storyteller. And stories are why we read fiction: we want to be transported away to another place and time, to escape the one we are in for a short while. Why? Because the reality we live in is, for the most part, monotonous and meaningless.
In this story, Zakes Mda takes us to not just one, but two, alternative realities, centuries apart, and weaves them together like the beautiful red isiXhosa costumes of its peoples. And their stories are intriguing, and brimming with meaning as we follow the twin paths of tradition and progress that intersect with tragic consequences in both tales.
And yet, despite the serious underlying tones, the mood of the story is light, with a love story that keeps you guessing ‘til the end. This, for me, is the real strength of Mda as a writer: he knows his people and their culture intimately, and he uses his skill as a writer and storyteller to share that with us, the uninitiated reader. I smiled or chuckled on almost every page as I enjoyed the language, beliefs and thought processes of a culture that I have lived alongside all my life, but seldom felt or understood.
Much has been recounted in other reviews of the historical and cultural background to 'The Heart of Redness'. I shall not repeat it, except to say that if you want to enjoy the full value of the story, you should read slowly, and make notes. There is significance backwards and forwards in time on virtually every page, and making those connections is like finding those special shells or unusually shaped rocks while on a stroll along the beach.
But the purpose of a beach stroll is seldom to find shells or rocks. It is to savour the sea air, enjoy the soft sand at our feet, hear the cry of the gulls, and feel the eternity of the ocean as it advances and retreats in the same way it has for millions of years.
So it is with our stroll through the story of 'The Heart of Redness'. It is an enchanting, intriguing, bewitching and amusing walk. You will be transported; you will find meaning; and you will return to your monotonous reality satisfied and refreshed. Thank you, Zakes Mda.
In this story, Zakes Mda takes us to not just one, but two, alternative realities, centuries apart, and weaves them together like the beautiful red isiXhosa costumes of its peoples. And their stories are intriguing, and brimming with meaning as we follow the twin paths of tradition and progress that intersect with tragic consequences in both tales.
And yet, despite the serious underlying tones, the mood of the story is light, with a love story that keeps you guessing ‘til the end. This, for me, is the real strength of Mda as a writer: he knows his people and their culture intimately, and he uses his skill as a writer and storyteller to share that with us, the uninitiated reader. I smiled or chuckled on almost every page as I enjoyed the language, beliefs and thought processes of a culture that I have lived alongside all my life, but seldom felt or understood.
Much has been recounted in other reviews of the historical and cultural background to 'The Heart of Redness'. I shall not repeat it, except to say that if you want to enjoy the full value of the story, you should read slowly, and make notes. There is significance backwards and forwards in time on virtually every page, and making those connections is like finding those special shells or unusually shaped rocks while on a stroll along the beach.
But the purpose of a beach stroll is seldom to find shells or rocks. It is to savour the sea air, enjoy the soft sand at our feet, hear the cry of the gulls, and feel the eternity of the ocean as it advances and retreats in the same way it has for millions of years.
So it is with our stroll through the story of 'The Heart of Redness'. It is an enchanting, intriguing, bewitching and amusing walk. You will be transported; you will find meaning; and you will return to your monotonous reality satisfied and refreshed. Thank you, Zakes Mda.
May 26, 2015
Non so che dire... di solito quando recensisco i libri prima ancora di finirli vuol dire che sono o pessimi, o meravigliosi.
Verranno dal mare non è pessimo, ma per me è dimenticabile. Ho faticato nei primi capitoli a collegare tra loro i personaggi e, non lo nego, forse ero un po' distratta, ma non c'è mai stato un passaggio in cui la mia attenzione sia stata davvero catturata.
Siamo in Sudafrica, tra una popolazione blandamente in conflitto per vecchie questioni religiose. Se a fine 800 gli avi si sono davvero presi a mazzate ora la fazione dei Credenti e quella dei Miscredenti si limitano a farsi dispetti. Pesanti, forse, ma pur sempre dispetti.
La vicenda va avanti a flashback di cui non sentivo l'esigenza: viviamo alcune pagine con i signori Twin e Twin-Twin del passato, ai tempi delle profetesse, e poi raggiungiamo i loro discendenti al tempo presente.
Secondo me la storia contemporanea era sufficiente, e arrivata a 50 pagine dalla fine si sta rivelando interessante. In sostanza la tribù nera e il territorio da loro occupato è minacciato dal progresso, sotto forma di un resort extra lusso con casinò e montagne russe che le persone moderne vorrebbero costruire sull'incontaminato bagnasciuga. In opposizione troviamo gli amanti della natura, che vorrebbero puntare su un turismo ecologico e sostenibile. Non so ancora chi vincerà, ma ovviamente spero sia la fazione pro-green. Sono nel mezzo di un'interessante discussione su come organizzare concretamente questo turismo costruttivo, ed è la parte più interessante di tutto il racconto. Peccato si svolga a pagina 298, su 342.
Ci sono anche delle storie d'amore in sottofondo, sia tra gli antenati che tra i moderni. Nel finale c'è un richiamo al colore rosso, tipico della cultura Xhosa e protagonista del titolo originale The Heart of Redness.
Discorso a parte meriterebbe l'intreccio delle varie frange religiose, compreso il cristianesimo coloniale, ma è una delle parti più interessanti del libro e vorrei consegnarla intonsa al prossimo lettore.
Verranno dal mare non è pessimo, ma per me è dimenticabile. Ho faticato nei primi capitoli a collegare tra loro i personaggi e, non lo nego, forse ero un po' distratta, ma non c'è mai stato un passaggio in cui la mia attenzione sia stata davvero catturata.
Siamo in Sudafrica, tra una popolazione blandamente in conflitto per vecchie questioni religiose. Se a fine 800 gli avi si sono davvero presi a mazzate ora la fazione dei Credenti e quella dei Miscredenti si limitano a farsi dispetti. Pesanti, forse, ma pur sempre dispetti.
La vicenda va avanti a flashback di cui non sentivo l'esigenza: viviamo alcune pagine con i signori Twin e Twin-Twin del passato, ai tempi delle profetesse, e poi raggiungiamo i loro discendenti al tempo presente.
Secondo me la storia contemporanea era sufficiente, e arrivata a 50 pagine dalla fine si sta rivelando interessante. In sostanza la tribù nera e il territorio da loro occupato è minacciato dal progresso, sotto forma di un resort extra lusso con casinò e montagne russe che le persone moderne vorrebbero costruire sull'incontaminato bagnasciuga. In opposizione troviamo gli amanti della natura, che vorrebbero puntare su un turismo ecologico e sostenibile. Non so ancora chi vincerà, ma ovviamente spero sia la fazione pro-green. Sono nel mezzo di un'interessante discussione su come organizzare concretamente questo turismo costruttivo, ed è la parte più interessante di tutto il racconto. Peccato si svolga a pagina 298, su 342.
Ci sono anche delle storie d'amore in sottofondo, sia tra gli antenati che tra i moderni. Nel finale c'è un richiamo al colore rosso, tipico della cultura Xhosa e protagonista del titolo originale The Heart of Redness.
Discorso a parte meriterebbe l'intreccio delle varie frange religiose, compreso il cristianesimo coloniale, ma è una delle parti più interessanti del libro e vorrei consegnarla intonsa al prossimo lettore.
January 2, 2016
This is one of my favourite books of 2015. I'd recommend it to all South Africans and anyone interested in an intriguing piece of history that is often overlooked.
Focussing on different generations of the same Xhosa family, Mda uses their parallel storylines to demonstrate the relevance of cultural history. It is a great novel that introduces you to the nuances of this particular time in Xhosa history in an approachable way.
It is funny and emotional and an easy read that you don't realise is having such a great impact on you. Mda is able to be critical of South Africa while still remaining optimistic about its future, a characteristic of the novel that is particularly relevant today.
Focussing on different generations of the same Xhosa family, Mda uses their parallel storylines to demonstrate the relevance of cultural history. It is a great novel that introduces you to the nuances of this particular time in Xhosa history in an approachable way.
It is funny and emotional and an easy read that you don't realise is having such a great impact on you. Mda is able to be critical of South Africa while still remaining optimistic about its future, a characteristic of the novel that is particularly relevant today.
February 24, 2016
I wanted to give myself a proper hiding for waiting this long to give Zakes Mda a chance ,why no one ever told me what I was missing?
The story is so beautifully written, maybe I am more appreciative being Xhosa and all, the story of Nongqawuse has always interested me hearing bits and pieces from adults.Zakes managed to put a lot of things for me into perspective, Fictitious Yes but a lot of the beliefs and cultures ring through even today. How he managed to moved from present back to way back with the swiftness that he did is beyond me.The story is as beautiful as the colours used to describe Camagu's musical fantasies.
The story is so beautifully written, maybe I am more appreciative being Xhosa and all, the story of Nongqawuse has always interested me hearing bits and pieces from adults.Zakes managed to put a lot of things for me into perspective, Fictitious Yes but a lot of the beliefs and cultures ring through even today. How he managed to moved from present back to way back with the swiftness that he did is beyond me.The story is as beautiful as the colours used to describe Camagu's musical fantasies.
October 24, 2023
On my ecocriticism wave….. 😐
February 1, 2020
Not an easy read, but fairly compelling. Part of what makes it difficult is that the story flows back and forth between a community of people in the 1850s and their descendants in the late 1990s. It doesn't help that some of the present-day people have the same names as the past people. Another challenge for the reader is that there are a lot of characters, and they come and go in such a way that I found it hard to keep track of them for about half of the book.
I'm glad I stuck with it, though. The Eastern Cape province in South Africa remains largely undeveloped even now, and the Xhosa people of the area have never recovered from the incursion of British settlers and the Dutch before them. That much of their story I already knew. But I didn't know about Nongqawuse and Nonkosi, so-called child prophets in the 1850s. They made prophecies that included a command to the local people to kill all their cattle, and many did so. And then they starved.
The shadow of that tragedy covers the present-day people in the area called Qolora-by-the-Sea. A highly educated South African man who has lived abroad for many years comes to the community by way of Johannesburg, and he quickly becomes enmeshed in local dramas. He's a kind of anchor for us present-day readers, and he's a sympathetic character in that he recognizes the Xhosa people for who they are today. A lot of the deep, abiding issues of South Africa are brought out and examined in this story about one small locale — in particular, the problem of self-sufficiency. Ways to make a decent living, whether to move far away from rural home villages, and what kind of impact will result from attracting tourism.
Overall it's well worth reading, but for me at least it took a bit of effort and dedication.
I'm glad I stuck with it, though. The Eastern Cape province in South Africa remains largely undeveloped even now, and the Xhosa people of the area have never recovered from the incursion of British settlers and the Dutch before them. That much of their story I already knew. But I didn't know about Nongqawuse and Nonkosi, so-called child prophets in the 1850s. They made prophecies that included a command to the local people to kill all their cattle, and many did so. And then they starved.
The shadow of that tragedy covers the present-day people in the area called Qolora-by-the-Sea. A highly educated South African man who has lived abroad for many years comes to the community by way of Johannesburg, and he quickly becomes enmeshed in local dramas. He's a kind of anchor for us present-day readers, and he's a sympathetic character in that he recognizes the Xhosa people for who they are today. A lot of the deep, abiding issues of South Africa are brought out and examined in this story about one small locale — in particular, the problem of self-sufficiency. Ways to make a decent living, whether to move far away from rural home villages, and what kind of impact will result from attracting tourism.
Overall it's well worth reading, but for me at least it took a bit of effort and dedication.
February 27, 2025
There were a few times that I was really invested in the story, but for the most part this is just a book I read for class and that's that. I would've had less motivation to finish this otherwise.
Don't get me wrong: it's not bad by any means. Most of the characters are interesting. The questions of belonging and modernization are really fascinating. Whenever the book focuses on those, it's great.
However, I was never that invested in the story of the ancestors. I never felt like I got to know Twin and Twin-Twin as characters besides that one is a dedicated Believer and the other an aggressive Unbeliever. This may very well be by design, but I just didn't find their stories compelling when I didn't feel like they were round characters. I could only feel sympathy for them, not empathy, and sympathy gets old after a while.
So I definitely liked the book, but I do think it dragged a lot. Still, it was very thoughtful, with some really neat ideas, so the experience was mostly positive.
Don't get me wrong: it's not bad by any means. Most of the characters are interesting. The questions of belonging and modernization are really fascinating. Whenever the book focuses on those, it's great.
However, I was never that invested in the story of the ancestors. I never felt like I got to know Twin and Twin-Twin as characters besides that one is a dedicated Believer and the other an aggressive Unbeliever. This may very well be by design, but I just didn't find their stories compelling when I didn't feel like they were round characters. I could only feel sympathy for them, not empathy, and sympathy gets old after a while.
So I definitely liked the book, but I do think it dragged a lot. Still, it was very thoughtful, with some really neat ideas, so the experience was mostly positive.
December 15, 2019
i acknowledge everything this novel tries to do but i just couldn't connect to it at all. i found the storyline confusing if not irritable, i did not like any character and i just generally didn't enjoy this. I should probably point that i am probably missing a lot of cultural / historical background which would be useful for this novel.
September 1, 2019
This book was pretty difficult to get into & understand at times, but absolutely wonderful once I managed to sit down and just read it. I've never read anything quite like it, and I would definitely recommend this book if you want to read something a bit different!
August 27, 2019
A book that really requires your full attention. Not always an easy read, but most definitely one that is culturally a masterpiece.
January 27, 2020
My recent reading of Return Ticket by Jon Doust triggered my impulse to pick up The Heart of Redness, a celebrated novel by South African novelist Zakes Mda. In Doust's novel, South Africa in the apartheid years is vividly depicted, and the narrator exemplifies the psychological disconnect experienced when living in a society that is fundamentally immoral. Life as a privileged white man becomes unendurable, and he leaves, because he can. But what if it's not possible to leave, and if one feels a moral obligation to make a difference, even if it's risky? People struggle with this dilemma all over the world, in regimes from the Middle East to Latin America to newly nationalist places in Europe, and yes, in Australia too, if one feels anguished about Indigenous issues or the treatment of refugees or the inaction on climate change.
Zakes Mda's novel is set in two time frames. It begins in the very early years of majority government in South Africa when the country was bedevilled by transition issues and the collapse of unrealistic expectations for greater equity. But it also harks back to the 19th century when a fatal prophecy that sparked a failed independence movement and widespread starvation, led to a rift between the Believers and Unbelievers, which persists in the present day as a rift between pro- and anti-development forces in a rural community called Qolorha. Wikipedia sums it up like this:
As 1001 Books says:
he central character Camagu has, like Zakes Mda himself at the time of writing this novel, returned from years living abroad. As a stranger, he is able to observe events while trying not to become embroiled in the factions. Amongst the villagers, some respect his learning and his knowledge of a wider world while others despise him for abandoning his traditions and not understanding what life is really like in rural South Africa. His own personal conflicts are exemplified by his attraction to the impressive but emotionally distant Xoliswa Ximaya, just promoted to the position of principal at the high school but with ambitions to become a bureaucrat in the education ministry, and to the wild, wilful and sensual Qukezwa, who works as a cleaner at the Vulindlela Trading Store.
The conflict in the community is about the proposal to develop a casino and water playground for tourists. The Unbelievers support this because there is the promise of jobs, and the lure of bringing 'civilisation' to a village that has only just got a proper water supply but still lacks electricity. The Believers object to it because they want their traditions to continue, and they suspect that the only jobs will be the menial jobs that no one else will do. Already they are the cleaners and the child minders at the village's one hotel, and they don't want more of that. They also suspect that once the water playground is operational, they will excluded from the beach where seafood forms part of the food supply.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/01/27/t...
Zakes Mda's novel is set in two time frames. It begins in the very early years of majority government in South Africa when the country was bedevilled by transition issues and the collapse of unrealistic expectations for greater equity. But it also harks back to the 19th century when a fatal prophecy that sparked a failed independence movement and widespread starvation, led to a rift between the Believers and Unbelievers, which persists in the present day as a rift between pro- and anti-development forces in a rural community called Qolorha. Wikipedia sums it up like this:
The Heart of Redness, Mda's third novel, is inspired by the history of Nongqawuse, a Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies catalyzed the Cattle Killing of 1856–1857. Xhosa culture split between Believers and Unbelievers, adding to existing social strain, famine and social breakdown. It is believed that 20,000 people died of starvation during that time. In the novel, Mda continually shifts back and forth between the present day and the time of Nongqawuse to show the complex interplay between history and myth. He dramatizes the uncertain future of a culture whose troubled relationship with the colonizing force of Empire, as well as their own civil factions, threatens to extinguish their home of Qolorha-by-Sea. (Wikipedia, Zakes Mda page, viewed 27/1/20)
As 1001 Books says:
In the mid 1850s during the devastation of the British 'scorched earth' policies, the prophetess Nigqawuse claimed to have been visited by her ancestors who promised that if the Xhoas killed their cattle and burned their crops, the British would be defeated. Thus began an extraordinary episode in which the Xhosa were split between the Believers, those who were determined to follow the prophesies and destroy their means of survival, and those that would not.
Mda brings this story together with a modern tale of a return to contemporary South Africa, where the promises of deliverance are now through tourism and development and the destruction of heritage rather than cattle and crops. (1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, 2006 edition, p. 897)
he central character Camagu has, like Zakes Mda himself at the time of writing this novel, returned from years living abroad. As a stranger, he is able to observe events while trying not to become embroiled in the factions. Amongst the villagers, some respect his learning and his knowledge of a wider world while others despise him for abandoning his traditions and not understanding what life is really like in rural South Africa. His own personal conflicts are exemplified by his attraction to the impressive but emotionally distant Xoliswa Ximaya, just promoted to the position of principal at the high school but with ambitions to become a bureaucrat in the education ministry, and to the wild, wilful and sensual Qukezwa, who works as a cleaner at the Vulindlela Trading Store.
The conflict in the community is about the proposal to develop a casino and water playground for tourists. The Unbelievers support this because there is the promise of jobs, and the lure of bringing 'civilisation' to a village that has only just got a proper water supply but still lacks electricity. The Believers object to it because they want their traditions to continue, and they suspect that the only jobs will be the menial jobs that no one else will do. Already they are the cleaners and the child minders at the village's one hotel, and they don't want more of that. They also suspect that once the water playground is operational, they will excluded from the beach where seafood forms part of the food supply.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/01/27/t...
June 25, 2012
I love books that show me new perspectives and cultures - and this book has plenty of that. A millenerian movement results in a famine and the division of a nation into Believers and Unbelievers. The two camps blame each other for the decline of their nation and have radically different views of their culture, heritage, different belief systems and visions for the future. Caught in between are a white shop owner and Camagu from Johannesburg. Camagu gets to know a new lifestyle in the village, the history of the prophecy and the following disaster, the division of the amaXhosa, and a debate about tourism development in the village. He tries to find his place between the Believers and Unbelievers and settle down in the village. Particularly interesting are the debates on development strategies and conservation of traditions and nature in the village, the views of life in the village versus emigration to the city or America, and the criticism of the black empowerment movement.
June 29, 2017
A strange book. I read it in less than 24 hours for an English course, and it was surprisingly engaging. A lot of the past/present parallels were cleverly constructed, and the wry overtones gave the narration personality.
I wish we could have spent a lot less time on Camagu's creepy obsession with women, and definitely less time romanticizing his obsession with the final woman. The characters feel very human, but it's hard to like any of them. Most of them seem deeply selfish, Believers and Unbelievers alike. Deserves a 3.5 for quality, but it gets two subjective stars from me just because I probably would not have finished it without being required to do so.
I wish we could have spent a lot less time on Camagu's creepy obsession with women, and definitely less time romanticizing his obsession with the final woman. The characters feel very human, but it's hard to like any of them. Most of them seem deeply selfish, Believers and Unbelievers alike. Deserves a 3.5 for quality, but it gets two subjective stars from me just because I probably would not have finished it without being required to do so.
February 6, 2009
I wanted to give this 4 stars but the abruptness of the ending squashed that. I actually sat there for a few minutes flipping pages back and forth trying to figure out if there were pages missing or not. Sadly that was just the ending. Still, overall I really enjoyed the book. There is something about the way Zakes Mda writes that really appeals to me, this mix of brutal realism and a magical dreamlike quality so that often times you aren't sure if the events he is talking about are real or not for the characters. I like his writing so much I'm moving on to a 3rd book in row by him.
May 31, 2011
This book was a gigantic letdown. If you want a ridiculous plot and some more stereotyping of how illogical and primitive Africans are, as well as a creepy-ass protagonist who seems to think he's entitled to any woman he wants, then by all means, read this book.
April 24, 2012
I would have given this book 4 were it not for the fact that he writes of "the warm air blowing off the sea". The warm winds in the Eastern Cape (and they are often furnace-like) always come off the land. This suddenly burst my bubble of immersion in the story and I never quite got it back.
December 6, 2010
Amazing
fic-guided
July 17, 2020HEART OF DARKNESS enjoys an achievement shared by very few other works in having provoked fellow novelists and artists to engage creatively with it. Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now and Mda’s novel, with its deliberately echoic title, top the list of Conrad challengers, with Graham Greene’s THE HEART OF THE MATTER not far behind.
Mda’s novel ponders South Africa’s modern (i.e. colonial and post-colonial) history. Are there continuities, or just a for-ever-broken chain of misfortunes and a wholly disrupted future? The novel has two narrative centres and attempts, painfully, to forge a link between them. One centre is an 1850s Xhosa uprising against the hated British rulers. The other is the period immediately after South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Mda’s hero, Camugu, was brought up in Johannesburg and has been thirty years (a short lifetime) in the US, where he has made a career in the communications industry. In these years abroad he has lost his inner self: his ‘redness’. He comes ‘home’ to free South Africa in the 1990s only to be wholly disillusioned by the ‘new Africa’. Nepotism bars him from obtaining any work he is qualified for. The ‘Aristocrats of the Revolution’ have no use for someone who is clever, highly trained and idealistic – but not one of them. Those who chose exile have no right to the spoils of victory bought by red blood, it seems.
Disillusioned, Camugu resolves to return to the US. But the night before his departure he hears a young woman singing on the roof of the building in the slum where he is staying. She is NomaRussia, who has named herself in tribute to the Russian soldiers who killed a former governor of the Cape Colony in the Crimean War. An infatuated Camagu follows NomaRussia to her birthplace, the small coastal village of Qolorha. This is the ‘heart of redness’ because it was also the birthplace of Nongqawuse, a teenage prophetess, who inspired the Xhosa nation to rise up in the mid-1850s. First she instructed her people to kill their cattle and burn their crops as a propitiatory sacrifice to the gods. The Xhosa dead would then rise from their graves and, in their hundreds of thousands, drive out the British robbers from their sacred land. And, she promised,
the new people who will arise from the dead will come with new cattle, horses, goats, sheep, dogs, fowl and other animals that the people may want. But the new animals of the new people cannot mix with your polluted ones. Destroy everything. Destroy the corn in your fields and in your granaries.
The village was divided between those who followed the ‘cattle killing’ instruction and those who did not. The ‘Believers’ won. The subsequent uprising proved disastrous for the Xhosa. Those who were not killed by the colonial forces, starved – 20,000 of them, it is estimated.
In the 1990s, Nongqawuse’s village is still divided between Believers and Unbelievers. Those who want to wipe the slate clean – and then smash the slate – and others who want to build a casino and tourist resort and embrace the Westernised future. Camugu finds a middle way. He instructs the men in the village how to harvest and market the abalone (sea snails) from their shores, and teaches the women how to set up co-operatives for their indigenous textiles and Xhosa clothes. Their customers extend from local hotels to the great city itself. Traditional dress is much in fashion – and restaurants are voracious for sea-food. The casino would have prostituted Qolorha. Camugu has liberated it. He is, the novel implies, the true heir to Nongqawuse – and more sensible. The novel, which opened with a devastatingly downbeat verdict on the decadence of Johannesburg, ends in a surge of upbeat optimism.
Mda’s novel ponders South Africa’s modern (i.e. colonial and post-colonial) history. Are there continuities, or just a for-ever-broken chain of misfortunes and a wholly disrupted future? The novel has two narrative centres and attempts, painfully, to forge a link between them. One centre is an 1850s Xhosa uprising against the hated British rulers. The other is the period immediately after South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Mda’s hero, Camugu, was brought up in Johannesburg and has been thirty years (a short lifetime) in the US, where he has made a career in the communications industry. In these years abroad he has lost his inner self: his ‘redness’. He comes ‘home’ to free South Africa in the 1990s only to be wholly disillusioned by the ‘new Africa’. Nepotism bars him from obtaining any work he is qualified for. The ‘Aristocrats of the Revolution’ have no use for someone who is clever, highly trained and idealistic – but not one of them. Those who chose exile have no right to the spoils of victory bought by red blood, it seems.
Disillusioned, Camugu resolves to return to the US. But the night before his departure he hears a young woman singing on the roof of the building in the slum where he is staying. She is NomaRussia, who has named herself in tribute to the Russian soldiers who killed a former governor of the Cape Colony in the Crimean War. An infatuated Camagu follows NomaRussia to her birthplace, the small coastal village of Qolorha. This is the ‘heart of redness’ because it was also the birthplace of Nongqawuse, a teenage prophetess, who inspired the Xhosa nation to rise up in the mid-1850s. First she instructed her people to kill their cattle and burn their crops as a propitiatory sacrifice to the gods. The Xhosa dead would then rise from their graves and, in their hundreds of thousands, drive out the British robbers from their sacred land. And, she promised,
the new people who will arise from the dead will come with new cattle, horses, goats, sheep, dogs, fowl and other animals that the people may want. But the new animals of the new people cannot mix with your polluted ones. Destroy everything. Destroy the corn in your fields and in your granaries.
The village was divided between those who followed the ‘cattle killing’ instruction and those who did not. The ‘Believers’ won. The subsequent uprising proved disastrous for the Xhosa. Those who were not killed by the colonial forces, starved – 20,000 of them, it is estimated.
In the 1990s, Nongqawuse’s village is still divided between Believers and Unbelievers. Those who want to wipe the slate clean – and then smash the slate – and others who want to build a casino and tourist resort and embrace the Westernised future. Camugu finds a middle way. He instructs the men in the village how to harvest and market the abalone (sea snails) from their shores, and teaches the women how to set up co-operatives for their indigenous textiles and Xhosa clothes. Their customers extend from local hotels to the great city itself. Traditional dress is much in fashion – and restaurants are voracious for sea-food. The casino would have prostituted Qolorha. Camugu has liberated it. He is, the novel implies, the true heir to Nongqawuse – and more sensible. The novel, which opened with a devastatingly downbeat verdict on the decadence of Johannesburg, ends in a surge of upbeat optimism.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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