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A review by loushouseofthoughts
Coconut by Kopano Matlwa
4.0
Coconut was written in 2007, but still holds up to the same realities and experience in 2022. The questions and ideas/thoughts or the style of narration( use of italics, switching between first and second voice, starting of relating a new experience randomly or character) reminded me alot about the Bluest Eye, which in turn has the same topic of internalized hatred and navigation of Black identity. This book also supports how African-American and black South African's history have alot in common.
In the context of being South African(or I believe African, really) and black, where not every black person is just black- we are first our tribe,then our clan and finally just "black" due to the shared history of oppression, it felt like Kopano was really writing my life story especially through Ofilwe Tlou. Just like Ofilwe Tlou, the desire to fit in with western culture but at the same time, being "weighed down" by your tribal affiliations and expectations i.e language, societal position as woman (African femininity and how this is always in justxaposition with Western femininity) and the rest. A way to conceptualize this, I feel, is the experience of the third culture kid. Born frees navigate tribal identity, contrast with Western culture, and also having to grow and live in a "neutral" environment. Your poc friends most likely have the same experience as you, but your extended family can condemn or even outcast you because you can come to live a better life than them at times, then your parents hoping you and your sibling's lives can only get better and create generational wealth.
There's so much in this book, probably make a video one day. All I know is that Kopano Matlwa has a special place in my heart being that she's part of the few who I know who tell South African stories.
In the context of being South African(or I believe African, really) and black, where not every black person is just black- we are first our tribe,then our clan and finally just "black" due to the shared history of oppression, it felt like Kopano was really writing my life story especially through Ofilwe Tlou. Just like Ofilwe Tlou, the desire to fit in with western culture but at the same time, being "weighed down" by your tribal affiliations and expectations i.e language, societal position as woman (African femininity and how this is always in justxaposition with Western femininity) and the rest. A way to conceptualize this, I feel, is the experience of the third culture kid. Born frees navigate tribal identity, contrast with Western culture, and also having to grow and live in a "neutral" environment. Your poc friends most likely have the same experience as you, but your extended family can condemn or even outcast you because you can come to live a better life than them at times, then your parents hoping you and your sibling's lives can only get better and create generational wealth.
There's so much in this book, probably make a video one day. All I know is that Kopano Matlwa has a special place in my heart being that she's part of the few who I know who tell South African stories.