Our Sister Killjoy

I bought this because it's one of three African novels my daughter is reading for a college course, and I thought it would be interesting to read what she is reading. Unlike the other two novels (Sozaboy and Heart of Darkness), I didn't find this an easy or engrossing read. There is certainly a political point of view, which is presented in interesting ways, including a lot of poetry, so it might make for interesting analysis, if you needed to write a college paper. But for a casual read, not so much.

This book is required for my literature class. It came in a timely manner and was in decent condition, which fit the cheap price.

Combining poetry with prose, Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo follows a woman nicknamed Sissie, a term of endearment in Africa, out of her homeland and into what seems like the perpetual wilds of Europe. The story focuses on how her country, Ghana, influences individuals to get an education and then get out of Africa and go to Europe or the States, the places that colonized and/or enslaved their people, and return more educated or, in some cases, to stay in these foreign countries and try to make money. Sissie, an educated scholar herself, discovers that there is no shining answer to her nation's problems since all parts of the world hold distinct prejudices and racism and hate. Everyone is out for themselves, and the "other" is shunned more so than the person that is most accepted in said foreign countries.Sissie befriends Marija, a Russian woman who reeks of loneliness, and their bond, at least in Marija's mind, becomes strong. Sissie remains rather aloof, but at times there is a tenderness and affection for Marija that borders something more than friendship. The book is divided into four parts: the beginning is about traveling out of Africa and why people do so, the two middle sections are what Sissie finds in her travels and in her close friend Marija, and the last is a letter to Sissie's male lover whose relationship is based on, not love, but mutual affection for wanting a change but they can't see eye-to-eye on how to get there.Aidoo, as an author, touches on feminism and racism in a way that many cannot articulate, through bold sentences and poignant poetry that cuts to the very core of the issues that were present in the 70s and are still present, to this day, around the world. It's a quick read, to be sure, barely 140 pages and most of it poetry, but the issues within are heavy and not to be taken lightly.

If you were to ask who my favorite African woman writer is, my mind would immediately go to Ama Ata Aidoo and her novel Our Sister Killjoy. Detailing an African woman student's journey throughout Europe, the main character, Sissie, is the novelistic equivalent of a phrase I love: the sun is on a different trajectory. To put it more clearly, in "exchange" for an European education, Sissie is supposed to follow the sun's path and settle in the West. However, after her studies, she returns to Ghana.I have often said that calling black literature "fiction" is a bit of a misnomer. Fiction is defined as "any form of narrative which deals, in part or in whole, with events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary and invented by its author(s)". The accepted practice of censoring black voices, I believe, has led us to call our literature fiction as opposed to a term that reflects the understanding that what might not be factual, in whole or in part, in white literature, might actually be factual, in whole or in part, in black literature.My parents and their siblings, were like Sissie - African students sent West to gain knowledge it was assumed would be brought back home. Unlike Sissie, however, my parents and their siblings didn`t return to Africa - except for periodic visits. As their child, born and raised in the West, the things I experienced growing up in a culture which, from inception, has denigrated Africans and African culture, have led me to the belief that the price for such education was too high. Taking such history into account, there is no way this novel wouldn't resonate with me.The chapter of this prose poem that I liked the most is the last one, entitled A Love Letter. As the name suggests, it is indeed a love letter but one written after the cessation of a relationship, not at its apex. Sissie, who was given the appellation "killjoy" (although qualified by the words "Our Sister") due to what her lover refers to as her "anti-Western neurosis". In this section, Our Sister gives a litany of reasons of why she is uncomfortable in the West; reasons which range from artificial heat to combat the cold to eating food which causes her to break out in hives; reasons which boil down to the simple fact that she "...sometimes, missed plain palm-oil on boiled greens".That feeling, generalized as homesickness, transformed in Our Sister's mind to spending "many sleepless nights trying to understand why, after finishing their studies, our brothers and sisters stay here and stay and stay.After all, was it not part of the original idea that we should come to these alien places, study what we can of what they know and then go back home?As it has turned out, we come and clearly learn how to die. Yes, that must be it. And it is quite weird. To come all this way just to learn how to die from a people whose own survival instincts have not failed them once yet. Not once."[...]

Just because something is different, outside one's normal experience or way of thinking, does not mean it is not of value. Reading this poetic novel was a hugely uncomfortable experience for me. Being a westerner some of the truths and opinions Aidoo expressed came from an unexpected angle, forcing me to look at my values and beliefs afresh. This makes the book less enjoyable perhaps, the truth can hurt as can opinions, but not any the less clever or well constructed. I guess it attacks political systems rather than individual people. The concept that many white people regard their black African friends as trophies (and I can think of some examples around me), made me examine my relationships with some of my African friends. Some of Aidoo's views do seem really extreme to me, however. As an immigrant myself, I don't relate to the concept that it is an abandonement of one's true identity and homeland in favour of selfish pursuits to emigrate. Maybe I would have liked to have seen more of a recognition that being part of this world is a global experience, I don't know. An extremely valuable read, I learnt lots.

Great book, but once I got it, almost 80 pages fell out simultaneously.

This is a must read for anyone interested in post-colonial politics. A multi-genre "novel" Aidoo's genius shines throught on each page. I couldn't put it down.

All good!

Clearverly written hometruths.