Don’t upset ooMalume: A guide to stepping up your Xhosa
Hombakazi Mercy Nqandeka
Jonathan Ball Publishers
ISBN: 9781776192113
The blurb of this book had me concerned by a language I thought was trying too hard to be hip. It seemed to me that trying to preserve the purity of Xhosa traditions and cultural practices while also making them hip, would be a contradiction of aims. But it somehow works in this book, which solves another problem I have always had about whether our practices were/are neglected solely because of the lack of efficacy, or it was/is mere prejudice of colonial mindset. This book will teach you the relevance and pertinency of native wisdom that is now being rediscovered by Western learning as sustainable, environmentally green ways of living.
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This book will teach you the relevance and pertinency of native wisdom that is now being rediscovered by Western learning as sustainable, environmentally green ways of living.
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This book can be categorised as a dictionary of Xhosa Weltanschauung, a comprehensive conception and apprehension of a mode of life that has been transferred by experience through the centuries from the ancient of times. Nqandeka, like most who have spent some time abroad, came back with a better appreciation of her own Xhosa native wisdom. It saddened her that this native wisdom was being lost, so she wanted to record it for the urbanites and prosperity. It is clear in the book that she's looking for a healthy way of integrating this wisdom into our contemporary mode of living.
Nqandeka sections the book into eleven chapters under the self-explanatory titles that explain: stage ceremonies, traditional wear, human habitat, sustainable living and coexistence with plants and animals, healthy eating and medicinal plants, environmental preservation, and origins of clan names and their evolution. I would have appreciated seeing more talk about the historical backgrounds of the Wild Coast areas (Nqele and Bulungula) which she mostly uses as the geographical locations she explores , especially since cultural and traditional practices in Xhosa tend to be specific and slightly unique to locality. Be that as it may, this is still a very rich and comprehensive exploration of the Xhosa Weltanschauung.
I found the book generally enjoyable once I started reading it albeit with jarring hip phrases which I am sure are used to bait younger readers. It is written in a simple way that may very much appeal to those wishing to learn the language and the living culture of the Xhosa people. The knowledge is encyclopedic without being bogged down by too much depth, and so is ideal for introduction purposes and secondary schooling also.
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Nqandeka writes with an easy familiarity of the Xhosa cultural background showing how the ordinary language is filled with elocution from ancient wisdom.
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Nqandeka writes with an easy familiarity of the Xhosa cultural background showing how the ordinary language is filled with elocution from ancient wisdom. She often exposes its parapraxes that are not easily understood by non-Xhosa mother-tongue speakers. She also often showcases how some Xhosa words can have multiple meanings depending on context. For instance: Ulusu, tripe, is one of the Xhosa (the Dutch too) favourite foods; but the word also means the skin. The same applies to ithanga, pumpkin, which also refers to the thigh, etc. Most Xhosa words are derivative, or eponymous. The word isiba, for instance, means a feather but also refers to a writing instrument. Often Xhosa words are also onomatopoeic, that is their phonetics imitate or resemble the sound they describe. A word described as such in this book is iqhashu, which is popcorn, named because of the sound it makes when being cooked.
Not only does the book explain the meaning behind certain words it also updates the reader on the contemporary usage of some terms. This is very useful when you consider the fact that certain words in Xhosa, as in most languages, can sometimes evolve into opposite meanings that are referred to as contronyms. Take the English word sanction, for instance; it now means both to approve or boycott. I found the book's bilingualism very useful, especially in comparing Xhosa traditional medicinal plants with corresponding scientific names. The author's academic agricultural knowledge shines through here in a non-snooty way.
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There is probably no one who can satisfy everyone regarding the genealogy of Xhosa clan names, because everyone has their own version from the oral history of how their own clans were once chiefs and kings. But bless Nqandeka for trying. A clear example of this is the current dispute for the succession to the Zulu crown. Less said about this the better because I am of the opinion that the other reason why the colonisers were able to defeat, and almost destroy many African native kingdoms, is because they were able to capitalise on the native royal houses’ infights that often led to the open violence of full-blown wars.
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There is probably no one who can satisfy everyone regarding the genealogy of Xhosa clan names, because everyone has their own version from the oral history of how their own clans were once chiefs and kings. But bless Nqandeka for trying. A clear example of this is the current dispute for the succession to the Zulu crown. Less said about this the better because I am of the opinion that the other reason why the colonisers were able to defeat, and almost destroy many African native kingdoms, is because they were able to capitalise on the native royal houses’ infights that often led to the open violence of full-blown wars. The colonisers were able to capitalise on this by fighting on one side against the other before finishing the other also, thus taking the land and fulfilling the African proverb about when two brothers fight a stranger comes and takes the house. The class example of this is the Cape Colony Frontier Wars. These happened around the era when King Ngqika was at war with his regent uncle Ndlambe. Ndlambe fought with the Boer Commandos to subdue small Xhosa chiefdoms like imiGqunukhwebe before turning his attention back to Nkosi Ngqika who had earlier defeated him. When he was eventually defeated during the Xhosa civil war of Amalinde, Nqika begged the British colonial government to assist him against Ndlambe. With the British he eventually eviscerated amaNdlambe, and in turn, in the words of his firstborn—prince Maqoma on whose shoulders it fell to fight the British for the land they confiscated from amaRhahabe (amaNgqika and amaNdlambe)—by taking home the anthill, Ngqika invited the visit of the lizard (British).
It is my wish and hope that many more books like Don't Upset ooMalume, in all different languages of our country, will proliferate to propagate our native wisdom that was truncated by the colonial project. We also need to put our ways back on the pedestal so they can take their rightful seat on the global stage. This is the only way our collective humanity will be able to continue in a more wholistic and authentic way.
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