Reviews for New Directions in Prose and Poetry 54

The average rating for New Directions in Prose and Poetry 54 based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-07 00:00:00 William Mccabe When I was reading the selected stories from the WWA anthology, I was struck by Fatima Meer's Murmurs In The Kutum because it demonstrates gender roles and expectations. For example, Meer describes the women customers as "big-bosomed and big-bottomed with wired ankles and beaded necks" while the men have "rippling muscles and shiny flesh" (310). That provides an image of how attractive men and women are expected to look from society's gender expectations with big breasts and big muscles. Moreover, the multiple voices at the party alludes to the social power structure as there are "important authoritarian voices, diffident subordinate voices, restrained, educated voices" (311). I find it especially interesting that the "educated voices" are "restrained" since the male voices dominant the party even if they are not educated. Clearly, women are expected to cook for men as "knives are picked up, radishes and onions cut, papads fried, pickles and plates taken to the table and finally the men are called in to lunch" (311-312). Illustrating their perceived level of importance, "the men are served in the dining room" and eat before the women (312). Only when the men have finished and "the table is cleared, table-cloths dusted, the table relaid," the women are allowed to eat (312). Once everyone is done eating, "male conversation soon plunges into a discussion of affairs of business" (312). Also, when "Gorie ma-mie (fair aunty)" is serving food, "she complains that she is valued for her paan alone and nobody cares for her for reasons other than that" (313). While men are respected for their views on business affairs, women are expected to cook and clean with no regard to their personal beliefs. Finally, what the men talk about is contrasted with "young unmarried girls giggl[ing:] and talk[ing:]" as "they talk about clothes and films and marriage and about bad girls who talk to boys" (314). However, the girls "engaged to be married are shy with importance" because they do not see a need to engage in such frivolous conversations (314). Since marriage is a social expectation, are the "unmarried girls" jealous of the perceived "bad girls who talk to boys" because they have a chance of getting married? (314). They collectively label them as "bad girls." Throughout Murmurs In The Kutum, I found it interesting how Meer shows the social standards men and women are expected to uphold. In Lily Changfoot's Return Journey, the story of a Chinese girl living in South Africa is a really interesting story. In South Africa, it's easy to think that there were just black and white people. However, this is obviously not true and Changfoot's account of her harrowing experiences is riveting. She is a confused state since cannot identify herself with either the white or African racial, cultural, social groups. However, all that being said, I found Changfoot's writing style relying too much on "telling" her experiences. For example, when she says, "I, a Chinese, not accepted in a White society and distrusted by the African" (373). Later when discussing her "years of high school," she "encountered and crossed three social, racial and economic barriers each day" (374). Lastly, "as a South African Chinese, [she:] was sandwiched between Black and White" (374). Since the story around these direct statements illustrates these points, why does Changfoot need to repeatedly explain to the reader that she is a South African Chinese? Good writing is all about "show, don't tell." While the story of Return Journey is "show," these explanations is "telling." It's overkill and ultimately unnecessary. With a little editing, I think this story could be far better. In storytelling, less is often more.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-11-12 00:00:00 Mike Cunt Browsed through it and read some excerpts here and there. This is a highly ambitious effort, which highlights women's production of stories and histories in the Southern Region of Africa. It collects a great number of genres: Different kinds of oral traditions, such as initiation songs, funeral and wedding songs, praise poetry, interviews, court testimonies; but also political petitions, speeches, prose and poetry, as well as autobiographies. As the introduction explains, "gender must always be defined through race, class, ethnicity, culture [...] in order to achieve any meaning" (1). It does succeed in this by giving voice to an immense array of women from all walks of life. This makes it a fragmented, but also richly diverse celebration of female cultural production from the Southern region of Africa. Just be wary of the introduction which is steeped in jargon and way too long to be of use.