Memorial
Title
Memorial
Description
Before arriving to SA, we began to familiarize ourselves with some of its history and legacies. We’ve had the opportunity to read a lot of literature, but two that seemed to really have stuck with me is Sindiwe Magona’s novel, Mother to Mother, and Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s book - A Human Being Died That Night. They both tell two different stories, but more than that, they both explore the unique ways in which the people of South Africa have been dealing with their traumatic history.
In Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s book, she allows the reader to gain better insight into the complexities of the human psyche and raises important questions on what it means to forgive. While interviewing Eugene De Kock, police colonel/assassin during apartheid, she explores the ability for South Africans (the oppressed and the oppressors) to be able to restore a sense of humanity through forgiveness. This does not mean criminals go unpunished, but instead under the Truth and Reconciliation Council, criminals are held accountable and perpetrators have to face the court and the public and must bear the weight of documenting and broadcasting their wrongdoings.
In Magona’s novel, she takes a different approach in her writing. We the readers are able to read this novel through her voice as a translator of some sort. She explains a little bit of her personal history and that of apartheid and the rapture of violence. She decided to write this novel after the death of Amy Biehl, an American Fulbright Scholar, who was killed in 1993. This was a year of organizing for the nations first democratic election. The socio-political climate at this point boiling and young Amy Biehl was tragically a victim these rising tensions.
This day we were able to visit her memorial. It reminded me of the sentiment shared by the masses of people in South Africa and across the globe. The quest for peace through communal solidarity is a theme shared by both novels and this one memorial (and hundreds alike around South Africa) is a constant reminder of this cry for healing.
In Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s book, she allows the reader to gain better insight into the complexities of the human psyche and raises important questions on what it means to forgive. While interviewing Eugene De Kock, police colonel/assassin during apartheid, she explores the ability for South Africans (the oppressed and the oppressors) to be able to restore a sense of humanity through forgiveness. This does not mean criminals go unpunished, but instead under the Truth and Reconciliation Council, criminals are held accountable and perpetrators have to face the court and the public and must bear the weight of documenting and broadcasting their wrongdoings.
In Magona’s novel, she takes a different approach in her writing. We the readers are able to read this novel through her voice as a translator of some sort. She explains a little bit of her personal history and that of apartheid and the rapture of violence. She decided to write this novel after the death of Amy Biehl, an American Fulbright Scholar, who was killed in 1993. This was a year of organizing for the nations first democratic election. The socio-political climate at this point boiling and young Amy Biehl was tragically a victim these rising tensions.
This day we were able to visit her memorial. It reminded me of the sentiment shared by the masses of people in South Africa and across the globe. The quest for peace through communal solidarity is a theme shared by both novels and this one memorial (and hundreds alike around South Africa) is a constant reminder of this cry for healing.
Creator
Amina
Files
