Hi all
I sent this in late November, but it didnt get through. This is a third
attempt
Mary
> > Hi Mike
> > A google search in african literature reveals the following authors who
> > write either in fiction or autobiography about growing up in South
> > Africa/Africa. Some of these might have accounts of first days at
school,
> > although given the contentious nature of South Africa's Education
history,
> > perhaps accounts of the experience of apartheid predominate.
> >
> > Nelson Mandela's account is as follows (contained in his autobiography
> 'Long
> > Walk to Freedom, 1994, London Abacus, p15-16). Nelson (rolihlahla
> Mandela's
> > first year at school was in 1925.
> >
> > "The schoolhouse consisted of a single room, with a Western-style roof,
on
> > the other side of the hill from Qunu. I was seven years old, and on the
> day
> > before I was to begin, my father took me aside and told me that I must
be
> > dressed properly for school. Until that time, I, like all the other boys
> in
> > Qunu, had worn only a blanket, which was wrapped around one shoulder and
> > pinned at the waist. My father took a pair of his trousesrs and cut them
> at
> > the knee. He told me to put them on, which I did, and they were roughly
> the
> > correct length, although the waist was far too large. My father then
took
> a
> > piece of string and drew the trousers in at the waist. I must have been
a
> > comical sight, but I have never owned a suit I was prouder to wear than
my
> > father's cut-off trousers.
> > On the first day of school my teacher, Mss Mdingane, gave each of us an
> > English name and said that thenceforth that was the name we would
answer
> to
> > in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was
> > undoubtedly de to the British bias of our education. The education I
> > received was a British education, in which British ideas, British
culture
> > and British institutions were automatically assumed to be superior.
There
> > was no such thing as African culture."
> >
> > Some other possibilities identified at
> > http://schools.4j.lane.edu/south/Library/readinglists/africanau.html
> >
> > Miriam's Song: A Memoir by Miriam Mathabane
> > as told to Mark Mathabene (Author of Kaffir Boy)
> > Simon & Schuster; 2000
> > Miriam's Song is the powerful memoir of a young black woman coming of
age
> in
> > South Africa amid the violence of the 1980s, representative of an entire
> > generation, who saw the abolition of apartheid and the birth of a
> democratic
> > South Africa. It is beautifully written by her brother Mark Mathabane
who
> > first came to prominence with the publication of Kaffir Boy, a New York
> > Times bestseller and one of the most riveting accounts of life under
> > apartheid.
> >
> > Ezekiel (sometimes Es'kia) Mphahlele 'Down Second Avenue'
> > South Africa 1959
> > An autobiography describing life in the townships of South Africa.
> >
> > Children of Soweto
> > Mzamane, Mbulelo
> > South Africa 1982
> > A look at the school situation during apartheid, leading up to the
> student
> > riots.
> >
> > Tell Freedom: Memories of Africa
> > Abrahams, Peter
> > South Africa 1963 The autobiography of a black South African boy.
> >
> > Kaffir Boy
> > Mathabane, Mark
> > South Africa 1986
> > The autobiography of a poor South African boy in the townships, and how
> he
> > makes his way out of the life of poverty and oppression.
> >
> > Sophiatown: Coming of Age in South Africa
> > Mattera, Don
> > South Africa 1989
> > A true story of growing up in South Africa.
> >
> > Ake: The Years of Childhood
> > Soyinka, Wole
> > Nigeria 1982
> > Autobiography of the African dramatist, poet, novelist, and critic in
the
> > Nigerian village of his childhood.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Mary van der Riet
> > School of Psychology
> > University of Natal
> > Pietermaritzburg
> > South Africa
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mike Cole" <mcole@weber.ucsd.edu>
> > To: <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 10:30 PM
> > Subject: Re: remember the first day of school?
> >
> >
> > > yep, remember air raid shelters. anyway, thanks.
> > > As Gordon noted, Citer with Rosie is wonderful.
> > >
> > > I was surprised in trying to find third world accounts its not easy.
> > > Camara Laye's Black Child doesn't do it. I thought perhaps somewhere
in
> > > Chinua Achebe, but have not found it. There is a neat Cuban FILM about
> > > going to school, but text is the name of this game.
> > > mike
> > >
> > >
> >
>
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