Basali!: Stories by and about Women in LesothoK. Limakatso Kendall Basali! means 'women' and is one of the most common exclamations in the Sesotho language. Usually uttered by a woman and delivered with a laugh, a shaking of the head, or a clapping of hands, Basali! evokes Basotho women's admiration and wonderment for themselves and each other. These stories in 'Sesotho-ised' English reveal a way of life and a way of perceiving experience that is unique in African literature. The stories offer glimpses of traditional healers, circumcision schools, witches, bride-prices, and extended rural family life. There are families disrupted by migrant labour, women and men brutalised by apartheid, teenagers who violate tradition, and middle-class office-workers whose rural families live by a different click than the one that ticks for them. The focus of each story is the decisions women make, the actions they take to protect and to provide for themselves and their children, and to care for the people they love. |
Contents
Three Moments in a Marriage | 1 |
An Unexpected Daughter | 17 |
The Lost Sheep is Found | 24 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
afraid African Alexis asked aunt baby Bakoena Basali Basotho women beat Berea District Boers boyfriends boys brother child church cold cousin daughter door drink English eyes father feet felt girl go back grandmother Gugulethu heard heart High School Hlotse hospital husband joala kill knew koloi Korina kraal Ladybrand legs live Lobola looked M'ahlamini M'athabiso M'athato M'atsepo M'e M'akena maize Mama KaZili Manraile married Maseru Matweba Maxhosa meat Mocholoko MOROESI AKHIONBARE mosali mother motsoalle mountains Muso MZAMANE NHLAPO never Nhlapo night Ntate Mookho Ntate Thabo Nthabeleng Nthabi nuns pain parents passport phofo Roma rondavel Sehlahla Sharpeville Massacre sheep shouted singing sisterhood sleep snow South Africa stay story Suzan Swaziland talk teacher tell Thabang Thabiso things thought told took Uncle University of Lesotho University of Natal Usiwe Usiwe's village voice walk wife woman