Stephanie Jane reviewed The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga
An inspirational memoir
4 stars
Reading The Barefoot Woman allowed me to gain a different perspective on traditional Rwandan life to that of the other Rwandan books I have read so far because this memoir does not focus upon the the horrific 1994 genocide. The book was written over a decade later so the author's awareness that this would occur is very much in evidence, but she tells us of her family's daily life in the preceding decades. I got a sense of normality from the memoir because events are told from Mukasonga's child viewpoint and she has only really known their Bugesera existence so vividly described these customs and society. In truth however, Mukasonga's Tutsi family has already been exiled from their homeland and, despite making the best of Bugesera, her mother does not see this place as home.
Mukasonga's mother must have been a wonderfully strong woman to have kept herself and her …
Reading The Barefoot Woman allowed me to gain a different perspective on traditional Rwandan life to that of the other Rwandan books I have read so far because this memoir does not focus upon the the horrific 1994 genocide. The book was written over a decade later so the author's awareness that this would occur is very much in evidence, but she tells us of her family's daily life in the preceding decades. I got a sense of normality from the memoir because events are told from Mukasonga's child viewpoint and she has only really known their Bugesera existence so vividly described these customs and society. In truth however, Mukasonga's Tutsi family has already been exiled from their homeland and, despite making the best of Bugesera, her mother does not see this place as home.
Mukasonga's mother must have been a wonderfully strong woman to have kept herself and her family together and healthy for as long as she did. We're talking of over three decades ostensibly within Rwandan borders but basically in exile from their home and under continual violent harassment from soldiers stationed nearby. A woman who practiced natural herbal medicine, she had to start learning all over again the properties of the plants that were now available to her. Coming as they did from a cattle-rearing tradition, the exiled Tutsis now found themselves without any cows therefore without one of their important nutrition sources and, because cow dung was to them a fuel and a building material, without the materials for shelter or heating. That they didn't all give up is testament to their deep commitment to rebuilding their lives and communities. This memoir illustrates an inspiring example of how to pick oneself up. It is also a sad reminder of the consequences of colonial interference and racial favouritism.
