Somewhere between 12 and 16 years ago, a friend had an idea for a book. I crafted a lot of content in response to this idea. The motivation I wrote to get funding for the book went like this:
There is something about South Africa. Ask any recent visitor. It’s something about the air of the place, the content of the place. Is it because most South Africans have been challenged in their lifetime in some way? The world waits for the great South African novel to sum up the experience. Can there only be one? The TRC has given voice to the awful things that happened... but there are other stories, smaller ones, fascinating ones, hidden in the memories of South Africans all over the country. Here every single person is a storyteller. You just need to open your ears and you piece together the rich tapestry of experience that is this country. I heard about a black guy who used to want to hear about all the ‘boss’ stories. He collected them. He laughed at them, maybe cried at them. A lot of funny ha ha and funny strange and just plain sad things happened here, things that could be lost with the mortal minds carrying them. They are not stories that shaped the whole country, nor that made it to the TRC, they are every day experiences of this place, the focus of this book.
And so, our content has never become a book, but perhaps it is worth exploring here as I learn a language of one of the people I share this wonderful space with.
So, the plan is to focus on learning sotho but intermittently post something from "Things of my place".
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