Monday, July 14, 2008

blog name change


hey, it's me and I'm back! (wow! two posts in one night!) Only, because I found earlier today that there is someone else out there with the same blog name - "Akili Ni Mali" - who in fact is now in my favourite blogs sections - and now I must throw in the towel and change the name of my blog. I assure you however it is only the name which is going to change. The content will still remain the same. So after a long tiresome perusal and search of different names, I have decided to go with the name "Nervous Conditions" Please note however that the name is not originally mine. A while ago, I was lucky enough to read an awesome book by Tsitsi Dangarembga called "Nervous Conditions" which I am guessing she borrows from Fanon's "The Wretched of the Earth." In his work, Fanon says "The condition of the native is a nervous condition" and in her book, Dangarembga explores the psyche of the colonized in a post-colonial setting in Zimbabwe through two teenage girls - Nyasha and Tambu - one of whom has been abroad and the other not. I thought it was an amazing book which was very well written! I saw myself so well-represented in both of those characters and I think she does the story justice. I am really looking forward to reading the sequel which is currently on my summer reading list. Because of this, I have decided to go with this name because it represents me, what this blog is about and any other colonized persons who feel their condition is a "nervous condition." It represents daily struggles, thoughts, the outcomes of a colonized mentality and a process of resistance which for me is mostly in writing and through which I am able to gain a true consciousness of my identity.

2 comments:

F.O. said...

I read Nervous Conditions in an African Lit. class during university and I really fell in love with it! I had no idea about a sequel - has it been published yet? I'm going to check into it now =)

Ciikũ said...

yes! :) It's called 'The Book of Not' and it was published in 2006. Perhaps we can swap notes later ;) I think there'll definitely be a blogging about it :P