Editeur - Casa editrice

Africa
Africa del Sud
Zimbabwe

Anno - Date de Parution

Pagine - Pages

Titolo originale

Lingua originale

Lingua - language - langue

Edizione - Collana

Traduttore

Nervous Conditions, written by Tsitsi Dangarembga in 1989, is a semi-autobiographical coming of age story about a young woman in modern Africa. The story takes place in Rhodesia in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The story centers around Tambu and Nyasha, female cousins who, until their early teens, lead very different lives.

Tambu was raised on her family's farm in Umtali where she was responsible for household chores, gardening, and caring for her younger siblings. Tambu's dreams of getting an education are only fulfilled when her brother dies and she becomes next in line for school since she has no other brothers. She is allowed to stay with her aunt and uncle while she attends school at the mission. While there, Tambu shares a room with her cousin, Nyasha and the girls teach each other many lessons.

Nyasha spent most of her formative years in England while her mother and father were getting their education. When she comes back to Africa she realizes the vast differences between European culture and African culture--especially where women are concerned. She experiences inner turmoil as she tries to come to terms with being a woman in Africa. As we see Nyasha's struggles through the eyes of Tambu, we begin to understand the continuing devastation countries are experiencing as a result of colonization by another culture.

Nata in Rhodesia (ora Zimbabwe) nel 1959, Tzitzi Dangarembga ha iniziato i suoi studi in Inghilterra, dove era emigrata con la famiglia. Tornata nel suo paese, vi ha concluso gli studi superiori per poi laurearsi alla Cambridge University in medicina. E’ poi ritornata definitivamente nel suo paese, dove si è laureata in psicologia. Nel suo paese ha fatto parte di una compagnia teatrale universitaria e nel 1983 ha diretto una commedia dal titolo The Lost of the Soil ed è divenuta una dei componenti più attivi del gruppo teatrale Zambuko, diretto da Robert McLaren ed ha partecipato alla produzione di due opere intitolate Katshaa! e Mavambo. In questo periodo ha anche iniziato la sua attività di scrittrice, pubblicando nel 1985 in Svezia una raccolta di racconti dal titolo The letter. Nel 1987 ha invece debuttato con un testo teatrale, She no longer weeps scritto nella sua lingua madre. Questo lavoro le procurò un enorme successo e la sua notorietà era già internazionale quando nel 1989 pubblicò il suo primo romanzo Nervous conditions (L’altra me) con il quale vinse la sezione africana del Commonwealth Writers Prize. Successivamente ha svolto studi da regista in Germania presso la Deutsche Film und Fernseh Akademie. In quel periodo ha prodotto numerosi film e documentari per la televisione tedesca e ultimamente è stata autrice e regista di Everyone's Child con il quale ha preso parte a numerosi festival internazionali e che è stato premiato al Dublin Film Festival.

English
In 1959, Tsitsi Dangarembga was born on the African continent in what was formerly referred to as Rhodesia, now called Zimbabwe, in the town of Mutoko. Although born in Africa she spent her childhood, ages two through six, in Britain. She began her education in a British school but after returning to Rhodesia with her family, she concluded her early education, her A-levels, in a missionary school in the City of Mutare. Later, she went back to Britain to attend Cambridge University where she pursued a course of study in medicine. Dangarembga was not destined to stay in Britain; after becoming homesick and alienated she returned to her homeland of Rhodesia in 1980 just before it became Zimbabwe under black-majority rule.

Although she returned to Rhodesia she still continued her educational pursuits. She began a course of study at the University of Harare in psychology. During her studies, Dangarembga held a job at a marketing agency as a copywriter for two years and was a member of the drama group affiliated with the university. This is where her early writing was given an avenue for expression. She wrote many of the plays that were put into production at the university. In 1983 she directed and wrote a play entitled "The Lost of the Soil". She then became an active member of a theater group called, Zambuko. This group was directed by Robert McLaren. While involved in this groups she participated in the production of two plays, "Katshaa!" and "Mavambo".

While involved in theater she also explored porse writing. In 1985, she published a short story in Sweden entitled "The Letter" and in 1987, she published a play in Harare entitled "She No Longer Weeps". Her real success came at age twenty five with the publication of her novel Nervous Conditions. This novel was the first novel to be published in English by a black Zimbabwean woman. In 1989, this novel won her the African section of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Prior to this award she had won a second prize in the Swedish aid-organization, SIDA, short story competition. After Nervous Conditions was published in Denmark, she made a trip there in 1991 to be part of the Images-of-Africa festival. Dangaremba continued her education in Berlin at the Deutsche Film und Fernseh Akademie where she studied film direction. While in school she made many film productions, including a documentary for German television. She then made the film entitled "Everyone's Child", her most recent credit. It has been shown worldwide at various festivals including the Dublin Film Festival.