Singing Away the Hunger

Posted on 01 February 2018 by Mpho M'Atsepo Nthunya

A compelling and unique autobiography by an African woman with little formal education, less privilege, and almost no experience of books or writing Mpho s voice is a voice almost never heard in literature or history, a voice from within the struggle of ordinary African women to negotiate a world which incorporates ancient pastoral ways and the congestion, brutality, and racist violence of city life It is also the voice of a born storyteller who has a subject worthy of her gifts a story for all the world to hear. New Read Books Singing Away the Hunger Author Mpho M'Atsepo Nthunya – kino-fada.fr I dream that this book will go far, and tell people about the Basotho, how it is with us, how poor we are and how we go on with life anyway This is an unusual memoir, consisting of the stories of a poor woman from Lesotho, matriarch of a large family, who works as a cleaning lady to feed her many children and grandchildren Though she speaks seven or eight languages and attended some school as a teenager, she spent all of her adult life busy with manual labor and raising children and is essentI dream that this book will go far, and tell people about the Basotho, how it is with us, how poor we are and how we go on with life anyway This is an unusual memoir, consisting of the stories of a poor woman from Lesotho, matriarch of a large family, who works as a cleaning lady to feed her many children and grandchildren Though she speaks seven or eight languages and attended some school as a teenager, she spent all of her adult life busy with manual labor and raising children and is essentially illiterate She wrote this book in collaboration with an American professor, by telling her stories orally, having them read back to her and dictating changes.It s a fascinating book in that it offers a window on a sort of life rarely encountered even in books not only the lives of a ordinary African woman and her family, but the lives...I created this book collaboratively with Mpho Nthunya, who does not actually read and write She dictated the story to me, and I wrote it down for her, read it back to her, and edited it according to her instructions I think it s the best thing I ve done so far. The land was quiet, peaceful, and very pleasing to my eyes I liked the colours, the shapes of the mountain tops, the way the shadows from the clouds fall and move across the mountains so everything is always changing Everywhere I could smell wild sage I like the wild sage and clean mountain wind, the colours of the wildflowers bright blue, deep yellow, or maybe red and orange like flames of the fire I like the sounds, the birds and the crickets, the waterfall near the house, the music of sh The lan...This book is unusual in several respects it is a type of memoir autobiography as told to someone but it is non linear The point of view is that of a poor black woman from Lesotho who only finished primary school yet speaks EIGHT languages not the typical memoir from theeducated or even elite class of Africans to which we in the West have become accustomed when trying to learnabout life in Africa Also, it was translated by the author, Mpho Nthunya, in the sense that she transl This book is unusual in several respects it is a type of memoir autobiography as told to someone but it is non linear The point of view is that of a poor black woman from Lesotho who only finished primary school yet speaks EIGHT languages not the typical memoir from theeducated or even elite class of Africans to which we in the West have become accustomed when trying to learnabout life in Africa Also, it was translated by the author, Mpho Nthunya, in the sense that she translated all her stories and experiences from Sesotho into English as she told them to K Limakatso Kendall, her transcriber and editor they worked on the editing together.Mpho is clearly gifted intellectually and worked hard her entire life whilst ...Pretty amazing that women s lives are so different around the world the author lives they way millions of unseen, unheard women live It really puts my problems in perspective she feels rich during those times in her life when she has enough food for all her children and a nice blanket to w...I have a bias in reviewing this book as the editor Kathryn Kendall is a friend of mine While on a Fulbright in Lesotho, she became friendly with one of the local women and took notes as the woman told stories of what her life had been like while eking out a ...This book contains wonderful and heart breaking stories about life in Lesotho, Africa The storyteller, M pho, creates a vivid and unique picture of her world and her difficult and joyous journey through it that shows her strength and acceptance of life in southern Africa.In my effort to read books from around the world written by local authors I chose this fromMy husband worked in Lesotho and we went there a few years ago with our sons for a holiday My husband commented that it had changed and there were a lottrees than there had been which is a positive Since Prince harry has raised the awareness of this country I think things have been looking up.This book was told orally to a university lecturer ho befriended Mpho M atsepo Nthunya in Lesotho In my effort to read books from around the world written by local authors I chose this fromMy husband worked in Lesotho and we went there a few years ago with our sons for a holiday My husband commented that it had changed and there were a lottrees than there had been which is a positive Since Prince harry has raised the awareness of this country I think things have been looking up.This book was told orally to a university lecturer ho befriended Mpho M atsepo Nthunya in Lesotho this is the life story of this amazing woman who speaks eight languages an...An interesting memoir of a Lesotho woman farmer, mother, lover, domestic worker, and octolingual wordsmith dictated to an artist actress professor from the US The two edited the volume together over many hours of oral read back so Mpho ensured all the writing remained in her narrative voice The book is deceiving in that its rarity the autobiography of a poor Lesothan woman normalizes her a...Singing Away the Hunger The Autobiography of an African Woman is or a nice look at Lesotho through the eyes of a Basothan lady The means available to Lesothans to provide for their families is limited work in hazardous mines or seek work in South Africa Mpho M atsepo chronicles the story of her life the loves, hardships, hunger and heartbreaks.The narration alternates between different periods of her life which confused at times She also changes tenses frequently during her telling Howeve Singing Away the Hunger The Autobiography of an African Woman is or ...

English
01 February 2018

Mpho M'Atsepo Nthunya