Bessie Head (1937–1986)
Auteur de Question de pouvoirs
A propos de l'auteur
Bessie Head was born on July 6, 1937 in a mental hospital in South Africa. She was the child of a white mother and a black father. Head's mother had been judged insane for fraternizing with a colored man and committed to the mental hospital while pregnant. After her birth, Head was adopted by a afficher plus coloured woman and raised in the mixed-raced community of Natal, South Africa. Head's birth mother died in the asylum in 1943. After receiving her teaching certificate, Head taught for a short while before taking a job as a newspaper reporter. In 1964, Head migrated to Botswana and began her career as a novelist. When Rain Clouds Gather, Head's first novel, was published in 1968. In the book, Head focuses on the racial hatred and political corruption of her time. Head's other novels include Maru, A Question of Power, and Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind, a story set in the village where Head lived. Head also wrote the collections Tales of Tenderness and Power, A Collection of Treasures, and A Woman Alone: Autobiographical Writings. Bessie Head died on April 17, 1986, at the age of 49. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins
Œuvres de Bessie Head
Woman from America 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributeur — 1,132 exemplaires
Wayward Girls & Wicked Women: An Anthology of Subversive Stories (1986) — Contributeur — 526 exemplaires
Other Voices, Other Vistas: Short Stories from Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America (1992) — Contributeur — 187 exemplaires
Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient… (1992) — Contributeur — 159 exemplaires
Wild Women: Contemporary Short Stories by Women Celebrating Women (1994) — Contributeur — 150 exemplaires
The Heinemann Book of African Women's Writing (African Writers Series) (1993) — Contributeur — 33 exemplaires
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom canonique
- Head, Bessie
- Nom légal
- Emery, Bessie Amelia (birth)
- Date de naissance
- 1937-07-06
- Date de décès
- 1986-04-17
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- South Africa
Botswana (from 1979) - Pays (pour la carte)
- Botswana
- Lieu de naissance
- Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
- Lieu du décès
- Serowe, Botswana
- Cause du décès
- Hepatitis
- Lieux de résidence
- Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
Serowe, Botswana
Durban, South Africa - Professions
- novelist
short-story writer - Organisations
- Drum
Pan Africanist Congress
The New African - Prix et distinctions
- The Order of Ikhamanga in Gold
Membres
Discussions
Group Read, August 2023: A Question of Power à 1001 Books to read before you die (Août 2023)
Critiques
Maru par Bessie Head
After being quite impressed with The Collector of Treasures, I found this disappointing. The writing simply wasn’t very good (certainly nowhere near as good as in the above collection of short stories). The plot is almost hackneyed: Margaret is an orphan from an almost universally loathed ethnic group in Botswana is adopted and raised by a white woman, educated and given unusual privileges despite the colonial regime—not unlike the author (whose background is both sad and inspiring). She trains to be a teacher and is sent to a rural village where she becomes the love interest subject of a struggle between Maru, the future paramount chief, and Moleka, Maru’s best friend, and a lower-level chief. (Never mind her own thoughts or preferences.) Complicating this is that her best friend in the village, Dikeledi, is herself in love with Moleka. Curiously, none of these three powerful people is troubled or put off by Margaret’s deeply despised ethnicity. One could argue that the book is Head’s attempt to explore the interactions between race, gender, and class. Or Margaret’s struggle to overcome racism. Whether it is these or something else that I completely missed, I simply did not find the book successful or convincing in its treatment of larger issues. I look forward to reading more of Head’s work; she is perceptive and thoughtful. But I cannot recommend this particular volume.… (plus d'informations)
½
Much of this novel explores the protagonist's experience with mental illness so it's not a particularly enjoyable read. But it seems ahead of its time for its unvarnished description of the experience. And similar to [b:When Rain Clouds Gather|28278|When Rain Clouds Gather|Bessie Head|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387749241l/28278._SY75_.jpg|2261015] there are vivid descriptions of life in Botswana and efforts to improve agricultural methods/life that are compelling.… (plus d'informations)
A short novel with a gently unfolding punch. Its overriding theme is racism: how it is maintained and overcome, but it is also an exploration of conflicting personalities; their battles and resolutions.
If ever I should muster the ability to relate to this madness - please put me out of my misery. It seems to me that Goodreads reviews are often like RottenTomato reviews - the more terrible the movie, the more stars it is given by "great minds." It's almost as if the great minds can't stand the thought of something being beyond them. No great mind here- and no danger in admitting that you couldn't PAY me to read this again. While there are moments of brilliance - it's not worth navigating the riptide of chaos that is the rest of the novel.… (plus d'informations)
Listes
Prix et récompenses
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 18
- Aussi par
- 18
- Membres
- 1,433
- Popularité
- #17,954
- Évaluation
- 3.7
- Critiques
- 34
- ISBN
- 80
- Langues
- 8
- Favoris
- 3