Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

If anyone would like to lead the April discussion for THE DEEP by Rivers Solomon, please let me know. You can respond here or dm me directly. Thanks!

It has won?! Wow!

Since it was my nomination, I might do it, though I have no knowledge of the author or their work.

Here's the wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dee...

A useful bit of background is the fact that the novel (or rather novella, apparently) originated in an episode of the Chicago Public Radio program This American Life focused on afrofuturism, for which a song was commissioned from the hip-hop group Clipping.

Both song and novel, in turn, are based on the mythology created by the enygmatic electronic Detroit duo Drexciya: according to which the babies of pregnant women thrown overboard during the slave passage have learnt to breath underwater and developed a culture in, indeed, The Deep.

Drexciya are recommended regardless:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/201...
http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/...

Admittedly the subject matter is heavy but, as I've had the occasion to say elsewhere, it is important if not fundamental in a post-colonial perspective.

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "It has won?! Wow!

Since it was my nomination, I might do it, though I have no knowledge of the author or their work."

Oh, you’ll be great. Discussion will begin April 1st which will give folks time to pick up the book.

I’d like to be respectful, so do we know Rivers pronouns? When I’m in doubt I like to just use the persons name. Some people feel that’s disrespectful as well though.

That's a good question; I for one have wondered as well.

If I had to depend on the official website (https://rivers-solomon.com/) I'd say Rivers is non-binary, which is confirmed by their profile as a Goodreads author. We might actually invite them to join the discussion?

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "That' a good question; I for one have wondered as well.

If I had to depend on the official website (https://rivers-solomon.com/) I'd say Rivers is non-binary, which is confirmed by their profile ..."

Yes, that would be great!

Do you want to contact them, as a mod?

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "Do you want to contact them, as a mod?"

Yes, I’ll contact them.

I had a digital hold of this at my library for months and only just checked in on it, and it seems my library let the lease or whatever lapse and hasn't renewed it. Will try to get a copy another way. Looks interesting.

I've just learnt that the official Goodreads group on Dischord is also reading The Deep in April:
https://discord.com/channels/75151974...

Well then…Happy Poetry Month; National Month Of Hope; National Minority Health Month; Happy Stress Awareness Month; and Happy Fair Housing Month.

But, for this thread, we are here for Rivers Solomon’s THE DEEP. I have never read this author but have always intended to. Her books were promoted heavily yesterday for Trans Visibility Day which some included non-binary folks as well.

Have you read this author before? Been to a reading, book signing, ran into them at the mall? Haha. I did run into the author Daniel Black last month at an Alvin Ailey performance so it’s not unusual.

Anyone reading The Deep, and if so, how far in are you?

Haha, no, I've certainly never run into Rivers Solomon!

Welcome to the official start of the discussion, everybody. I have a long queue for April and might be a little late for this. Alternatively I can push it up the list.

Just started. On chapter 3. So far…interesting.

I finished it last week. I thought it's ideas about history and the role of the historian were intriguing. The way that the wajinru become a tempest of directionless destruction without Yetu really made me think.

However, I did not really care for the descriptions of mermaid life...

I just discovered that the B-side to Clipping's "The Deep" is a song called "Aquacode Databreaks" featuring Shabazz Palaces. My afrofuturist musical fixations are coming full circle.

And this should be the episode of This American Life that eventually resulted in the writing of The Deep:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/623/...

What does it mean to be "born of the dead," and how does this concept shape the wajinru's identity and history?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the first historian's leadership?

For the life of me I can't recall many trans or non-binary writers of color out there. Of course there’s Akwaeke Emezi, Kacen Callender, Danez Smith and Alok Vaid-Menon. I’ve read the poet Smith and the primarily middle grade/YA author, Callendar, whom I adore -but not the other two. Can you think of others?

This will be my next read. Hopefully starting tomorrow.

Since the novel is short and the chapters few, I'm going to try to do a chapter-by-chapter analysis.

Chapter 1
alias The Plunge
(view spoiler)[
We are introduced to the Wajinru merfolk (the equivalent of the nominal Drexciyans) to their peculiar physiology and culture. Interesting considerations on life underwater (the propagation of sound and the way it is not just heard but felt; the possibility to move in three dimensions rather than on the planet's surface...) are channeled through our protagonist Yetu, who seems neurodivergent and easily overwhelmed by "the onslaught of the circus that is the sea".
We learn that the Wajinru are both naturally and culturally predisposed to forget, but not yet why. The memories stored by the historian also seem to be acquired physically rather than mentally; through the body rather than learning.
There's also a curious reference to "six hundred years of wajinru culture". The Middle Passage began almost precisely five centuries ago, so are we supposed to take this as a hint that the story takes place in our future?
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 2
alias The Preparation
(view spoiler)[
The chapter opens with a poignant consideration: the contrasting impulses to "salvage a speck of beauty from tragedy with a dirge [...] transform trauma to performance", or to be, in a sense, more faithful to history and the personal memories of victims in their dying moments. I find it curious that Yetu literally embodies the latter stance, while the genealogy of artists that resulted in The Deep (Drexciya, Clipping and Rivers Solomon, in the stricter sense; but also the innumerable others that came before them) have all strived to process the trauma into their work.
We learn that the wajinru number in the few thousands. I'm not sure what to make of this, since we're told they've existed for 600 years. We also learn the meaning of the term wajinru, which I find beautiful. On the other hand, the stratagem of 'the womb', the giant mud sphere they build to shelter themselves during the Remembering, seems a bit clumsy. Couldn't they just use a cavern?
Yetu is given a comb that might have belonged to one of the first mothers, the starting point of the Drexciya mythology.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3
alias The Remembering
(view spoiler)[
Yetu's revelation at the beginning of the ceremony closely resembles Drexciya's cryptic liner notes (all caps original):

“DURING THE GREATEST HOLOCAUST THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN, PREGNANT AMERICA-BOUND AFRICAN SLAVES WERE THROWN OVERBOARD BY THE THOUSANDS DURING LABOR... IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THEY COULD HAVE GIVEN BIRTH AT SEA TO BABIES THAT NEVER NEEDED AIR?”

While the refrain "Remember how deep we go" directly recalls Clipping's song: https://genius.com/Clipping-the-deep-...
Clipping have in turn commented on this constant reinterpretation, which they call "a game of artistic Telephone", on their Afterword to the novel.

As the actual Remembering unfolds in this chapter, the author couldn't very well subject the readers to the wajinru's entire history; in this shortened version, the key points appear to be their self-identification as wajinru and the connection to the "two-legged surface dwellers". The latter is at this point very generic: we can recognise details referring to the Middle Passage, but they seem unaware of this part of the trauma, at least for the time being.
The role of historian has elements of the griot and the shaman; it's a risky business for the designated person and for their culture at large... hopefully the reasons for its existence will be revealed later on. Speaking of risks: in this as in earlier chapters, it is repeated how dangerous the ritual is for historians and Yetu in particular. Such paroxism regarding the protagonist is a frequent feature of afrofuturism (it's a must with Nnedi Okorafor, for instance).
(hide spoiler)]

I finished the book tonight and was reading it slowly all month because I wanted more time with Yetu. I found her to be a powerful character torn by her duty as historian and her own personal freedom without the rememberings. It was important for Yetu to meet Oori, someone who lost her family, culture, and internally, her past. It gave Yetu perspective on what it means to have no relationship to your historical cultural past. I feel that way at times as an African American woman who cannot tell stories beyond my own maternal grandparents. I have often envied those who can trace their roots from their homeland to where they are now.

I've recently finished it, and I was sad to leave Yetu and the Wajinru. The world building was so immersive and being based in such a mythical truth and shared trauma. It felt so tangible, I'll be thinking of this for a long while afterward. I may try and re-read it again once I've fully digested it. Thanks for the book suggestion and further wiki reading etc!

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "Since the novel is short and the chapters few, I'm going to try to do a chapter-by-chapter analysis."

This didn't happen (I was travelling as I finished the book), but I've finally found the time to write a review.