A Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars, but some readers may be put off by its use of literary sketches.John Eppel is better known for his mastery of poems and fiction.Joe Eppel/Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SANhlanhla Dube,University of Cape TownZimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode.During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing.Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice.Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers.His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing.The literary sketchIn A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family
In the prologue, he sets up the context:For this collection I wanted to write about the comic side of my life as a Rhodesian, and the sketch, as a literary genre, seemed more appropriate than a conventional autobiography Although the sketch has a pedigree going back to the 16th century, my interest in it was sparked by Charles Dickens’ first published bookSketches by ‘Boz’.Eppel is an English teacher and literary critic Literary analysis even informs some of his fictional characters One gets the sense that he intends to make A Colonial Boy Dickensian in gravity, scope and quality.Theliterary sketchis an uncommon mode
This complicates our understanding of how Eppel tries to deliver his life’s story Sketches are meant to be brief chronicles of particular events which are not usually connected to a larger story It’s doubtful that the linear timeline of a human life can be accurately represented through the literary sketch.The randomness of the sketch as a stylistic method does not adhere well to theclassical imageof the autobiographer as a “self-interested individual intent on assessing the status of the soul” This becomes apparent when Eppel moves quickly from sketch to sketch without giving full details and reflection on the incidents being invoked.Even when writing this book review, it is difficult to give you, the reader, an accurate idea of what Eppel has to say, on reflection, about his earlier years
The scenes (or sketches) do not demonstrate a unity of purpose Rather than Eppel saying “this is what happened in my life and I would like you to know about it so that you get to know me better”, the reader gets “this is what happened on a random day in a particular year in colonial Rhodesia, so make of it what you will” To be fair, Eppel does warn the reader in advance:What you will find in these pages is a series of anecdotes about me from toddlerhood to my early thirties.Fine But what is the point of this randomness?My reading is that it’s an attempt to introduce narrative detachment – in the same way as an author would create distance between themself and their character
The problem is, this is not a novel There should not be a border between the narrator and the protagonist in self life writing.White men and warOf course, Eppel might have good reason for wanting to create narrative detachment Other white Zimbabwean writers have seen their autobiographical writings affect their daily lives David Coltart’smemoirs, for example, generated muchdiscussionover his role in the Rhodesian security forces
He was one of the many white men required to undergo compulsory service by the white minority government.In his sketches, Eppel gives very brief details about his time serving in the armed forces Ever the renegade with a problem with authority, he describes his time in the Rhodesian army as “eight weeks of institutionalised hell” TheChimurengawar was fought by black nationalists in order to bring about democracy and black majority rule Eppel essentially acknowledges that morally, he was on the wrong side of that war.Eppel is also aware of how the literary establishment haslabelledhis work as Rhodesian racist rhetoric
This is a charge Eppel scholars like myself have tried to fight Regardless, Eppel wisely refuses to elaborate on his operational activities in the war:I was involved in one contact, near a post on the Mozambique border called Vila Salazar I have recorded this contact in poetry (confessional) and in prose (satirical), but there is no place for it on these pages.The political considerations Eppel had in mind when writing these sketches prevent the reader from gaining a non-fictional account of his wartime experience.Autobiographies can come in the form of anapologia This is often a memoir written by politicians at the end of their careers todefendcertain policy positions they took
By avoiding the military issue, Eppel wisely moves away from turning these sketches into an apologia.A welcome book but a difficult readA Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars such as myself It does a lot to connect the man to his fiction However, I struggle to see its relevance to the general readership.Avid readers of fast paced white Zimbabwean autobiographies will likely lament the lack of action in these sketches They will probably abhor the sketch form itself
There are no clear villains here The thematic identifiers that define white Zimbabwean autobiography are absent There are no enduring images of black Zimbabwean suffering, no corruption, no racial violence, no farms taken, and no white people beaten up.Perhaps though, this is the point Eppel is trying to make A life well lived should not have to be a spectacle.Nhlanhla Dube, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of English Literary Studies,University of Cape TownThis article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license
Read theoriginal article.Post published in:FeaturedRelatedWhy Mushayavanhu doesn’t see that increased ZiG usage means Zimbabweans are dumping itWetlands Protection: Post COP 15 recommendations for HarareLeave a ReplyCancel reply
A Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars, but some readers may be put off by its use of literary sketches.John Eppel is better known for his mastery of poems and fiction.Joe Eppel/Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SANhlanhla Dube,University of Cape TownZimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode.During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing.Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice.Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers.His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing.The literary sketchIn A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family
In the prologue, he sets up the context:For this collection I wanted to write about the comic side of my life as a Rhodesian, and the sketch, as a literary genre, seemed more appropriate than a conventional autobiography Although the sketch has a pedigree going back to the 16th century, my interest in it was sparked by Charles Dickens’ first published bookSketches by ‘Boz’.Eppel is an English teacher and literary critic Literary analysis even informs some of his fictional characters One gets the sense that he intends to make A Colonial Boy Dickensian in gravity, scope and quality.Theliterary sketchis an uncommon mode
This complicates our understanding of how Eppel tries to deliver his life’s story Sketches are meant to be brief chronicles of particular events which are not usually connected to a larger story It’s doubtful that the linear timeline of a human life can be accurately represented through the literary sketch.The randomness of the sketch as a stylistic method does not adhere well to theclassical imageof the autobiographer as a “self-interested individual intent on assessing the status of the soul” This becomes apparent when Eppel moves quickly from sketch to sketch without giving full details and reflection on the incidents being invoked.Even when writing this book review, it is difficult to give you, the reader, an accurate idea of what Eppel has to say, on reflection, about his earlier years
The scenes (or sketches) do not demonstrate a unity of purpose Rather than Eppel saying “this is what happened in my life and I would like you to know about it so that you get to know me better”, the reader gets “this is what happened on a random day in a particular year in colonial Rhodesia, so make of it what you will” To be fair, Eppel does warn the reader in advance:What you will find in these pages is a series of anecdotes about me from toddlerhood to my early thirties.Fine But what is the point of this randomness?My reading is that it’s an attempt to introduce narrative detachment – in the same way as an author would create distance between themself and their character
The problem is, this is not a novel There should not be a border between the narrator and the protagonist in self life writing.White men and warOf course, Eppel might have good reason for wanting to create narrative detachment Other white Zimbabwean writers have seen their autobiographical writings affect their daily lives David Coltart’smemoirs, for example, generated muchdiscussionover his role in the Rhodesian security forces
He was one of the many white men required to undergo compulsory service by the white minority government.In his sketches, Eppel gives very brief details about his time serving in the armed forces Ever the renegade with a problem with authority, he describes his time in the Rhodesian army as “eight weeks of institutionalised hell” TheChimurengawar was fought by black nationalists in order to bring about democracy and black majority rule Eppel essentially acknowledges that morally, he was on the wrong side of that war.Eppel is also aware of how the literary establishment haslabelledhis work as Rhodesian racist rhetoric
This is a charge Eppel scholars like myself have tried to fight Regardless, Eppel wisely refuses to elaborate on his operational activities in the war:I was involved in one contact, near a post on the Mozambique border called Vila Salazar I have recorded this contact in poetry (confessional) and in prose (satirical), but there is no place for it on these pages.The political considerations Eppel had in mind when writing these sketches prevent the reader from gaining a non-fictional account of his wartime experience.Autobiographies can come in the form of anapologia This is often a memoir written by politicians at the end of their careers todefendcertain policy positions they took
By avoiding the military issue, Eppel wisely moves away from turning these sketches into an apologia.A welcome book but a difficult readA Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars such as myself It does a lot to connect the man to his fiction However, I struggle to see its relevance to the general readership.Avid readers of fast paced white Zimbabwean autobiographies will likely lament the lack of action in these sketches They will probably abhor the sketch form itself
There are no clear villains here The thematic identifiers that define white Zimbabwean autobiography are absent There are no enduring images of black Zimbabwean suffering, no corruption, no racial violence, no farms taken, and no white people beaten up.Perhaps though, this is the point Eppel is trying to make A life well lived should not have to be a spectacle.Nhlanhla Dube, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of English Literary Studies,University of Cape TownThis article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license
Read theoriginal article.Post published in:FeaturedRelatedWhy Mushayavanhu doesn’t see that increased ZiG usage means Zimbabweans are dumping itWetlands Protection: Post COP 15 recommendations for HarareLeave a ReplyCancel reply
A Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars, but some readers may be put off by its use of literary sketches.John Eppel is better known for his mastery of poems and fiction.Joe Eppel/Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SANhlanhla Dube,University of Cape TownZimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode.During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing.Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice.Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers.His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing.The literary sketchIn A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family
In the prologue, he sets up the context:For this collection I wanted to write about the comic side of my life as a Rhodesian, and the sketch, as a literary genre, seemed more appropriate than a conventional autobiography Although the sketch has a pedigree going back to the 16th century, my interest in it was sparked by Charles Dickens’ first published bookSketches by ‘Boz’.Eppel is an English teacher and literary critic Literary analysis even informs some of his fictional characters One gets the sense that he intends to make A Colonial Boy Dickensian in gravity, scope and quality.Theliterary sketchis an uncommon mode
This complicates our understanding of how Eppel tries to deliver his life’s story Sketches are meant to be brief chronicles of particular events which are not usually connected to a larger story It’s doubtful that the linear timeline of a human life can be accurately represented through the literary sketch.The randomness of the sketch as a stylistic method does not adhere well to theclassical imageof the autobiographer as a “self-interested individual intent on assessing the status of the soul” This becomes apparent when Eppel moves quickly from sketch to sketch without giving full details and reflection on the incidents being invoked.Even when writing this book review, it is difficult to give you, the reader, an accurate idea of what Eppel has to say, on reflection, about his earlier years
The scenes (or sketches) do not demonstrate a unity of purpose Rather than Eppel saying “this is what happened in my life and I would like you to know about it so that you get to know me better”, the reader gets “this is what happened on a random day in a particular year in colonial Rhodesia, so make of it what you will” To be fair, Eppel does warn the reader in advance:What you will find in these pages is a series of anecdotes about me from toddlerhood to my early thirties.Fine But what is the point of this randomness?My reading is that it’s an attempt to introduce narrative detachment – in the same way as an author would create distance between themself and their character
The problem is, this is not a novel There should not be a border between the narrator and the protagonist in self life writing.White men and warOf course, Eppel might have good reason for wanting to create narrative detachment Other white Zimbabwean writers have seen their autobiographical writings affect their daily lives David Coltart’smemoirs, for example, generated muchdiscussionover his role in the Rhodesian security forces
He was one of the many white men required to undergo compulsory service by the white minority government.In his sketches, Eppel gives very brief details about his time serving in the armed forces Ever the renegade with a problem with authority, he describes his time in the Rhodesian army as “eight weeks of institutionalised hell” TheChimurengawar was fought by black nationalists in order to bring about democracy and black majority rule Eppel essentially acknowledges that morally, he was on the wrong side of that war.Eppel is also aware of how the literary establishment haslabelledhis work as Rhodesian racist rhetoric
This is a charge Eppel scholars like myself have tried to fight Regardless, Eppel wisely refuses to elaborate on his operational activities in the war:I was involved in one contact, near a post on the Mozambique border called Vila Salazar I have recorded this contact in poetry (confessional) and in prose (satirical), but there is no place for it on these pages.The political considerations Eppel had in mind when writing these sketches prevent the reader from gaining a non-fictional account of his wartime experience.Autobiographies can come in the form of anapologia This is often a memoir written by politicians at the end of their careers todefendcertain policy positions they took
By avoiding the military issue, Eppel wisely moves away from turning these sketches into an apologia.A welcome book but a difficult readA Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars such as myself It does a lot to connect the man to his fiction However, I struggle to see its relevance to the general readership.Avid readers of fast paced white Zimbabwean autobiographies will likely lament the lack of action in these sketches They will probably abhor the sketch form itself
There are no clear villains here The thematic identifiers that define white Zimbabwean autobiography are absent There are no enduring images of black Zimbabwean suffering, no corruption, no racial violence, no farms taken, and no white people beaten up.Perhaps though, this is the point Eppel is trying to make A life well lived should not have to be a spectacle.Nhlanhla Dube, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of English Literary Studies,University of Cape TownThis article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license
Read theoriginal article.Post published in:FeaturedRelatedWhy Mushayavanhu doesn’t see that increased ZiG usage means Zimbabweans are dumping itWetlands Protection: Post COP 15 recommendations for HarareLeave a ReplyCancel reply
A Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars, but some readers may be put off by its use of literary sketches A Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars, but some readers may be put off by its use of literary sketches John Eppel is better known for his mastery of poems and fiction.Joe Eppel/Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SANhlanhla Dube,University of Cape TownZimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode.During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing.Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question
In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice.Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers.His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing.The literary sketchIn A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family In the prologue, he sets up the context:For this collection I wanted to write about the comic side of my life as a Rhodesian, and the sketch, as a literary genre, seemed more appropriate than a conventional autobiography Although the sketch has a pedigree going back to the 16th century, my interest in it was sparked by Charles Dickens’ first published bookSketches by ‘Boz’.Eppel is an English teacher and literary critic
Literary analysis even informs some of his fictional characters One gets the sense that he intends to make A Colonial Boy Dickensian in gravity, scope and quality.Theliterary sketchis an uncommon mode This complicates our understanding of how Eppel tries to deliver his life’s story Sketches are meant to be brief chronicles of particular events which are not usually connected to a larger story
It’s doubtful that the linear timeline of a human life can be accurately represented through the literary sketch.The randomness of the sketch as a stylistic method does not adhere well to theclassical imageof the autobiographer as a “self-interested individual intent on assessing the status of the soul” This becomes apparent when Eppel moves quickly from sketch to sketch without giving full details and reflection on the incidents being invoked.Even when writing this book review, it is difficult to give you, the reader, an accurate idea of what Eppel has to say, on reflection, about his earlier years The scenes (or sketches) do not demonstrate a unity of purpose Rather than Eppel saying “this is what happened in my life and I would like you to know about it so that you get to know me better”, the reader gets “this is what happened on a random day in a particular year in colonial Rhodesia, so make of it what you will”
To be fair, Eppel does warn the reader in advance:What you will find in these pages is a series of anecdotes about me from toddlerhood to my early thirties.Fine But what is the point of this randomness?My reading is that it’s an attempt to introduce narrative detachment – in the same way as an author would create distance between themself and their character The problem is, this is not a novel There should not be a border between the narrator and the protagonist in self life writing.White men and warOf course, Eppel might have good reason for wanting to create narrative detachment
Other white Zimbabwean writers have seen their autobiographical writings affect their daily lives David Coltart’smemoirs, for example, generated muchdiscussionover his role in the Rhodesian security forces He was one of the many white men required to undergo compulsory service by the white minority government.In his sketches, Eppel gives very brief details about his time serving in the armed forces Ever the renegade with a problem with authority, he describes his time in the Rhodesian army as “eight weeks of institutionalised hell”
TheChimurengawar was fought by black nationalists in order to bring about democracy and black majority rule Eppel essentially acknowledges that morally, he was on the wrong side of that war.Eppel is also aware of how the literary establishment haslabelledhis work as Rhodesian racist rhetoric This is a charge Eppel scholars like myself have tried to fight Regardless, Eppel wisely refuses to elaborate on his operational activities in the war:I was involved in one contact, near a post on the Mozambique border called Vila Salazar
I have recorded this contact in poetry (confessional) and in prose (satirical), but there is no place for it on these pages.The political considerations Eppel had in mind when writing these sketches prevent the reader from gaining a non-fictional account of his wartime experience.Autobiographies can come in the form of anapologia This is often a memoir written by politicians at the end of their careers todefendcertain policy positions they took By avoiding the military issue, Eppel wisely moves away from turning these sketches into an apologia.A welcome book but a difficult readA Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars such as myself It does a lot to connect the man to his fiction
However, I struggle to see its relevance to the general readership.Avid readers of fast paced white Zimbabwean autobiographies will likely lament the lack of action in these sketches They will probably abhor the sketch form itself There are no clear villains here The thematic identifiers that define white Zimbabwean autobiography are absent
There are no enduring images of black Zimbabwean suffering, no corruption, no racial violence, no farms taken, and no white people beaten up.Perhaps though, this is the point Eppel is trying to make A life well lived should not have to be a spectacle.Nhlanhla Dube, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of English Literary Studies,University of Cape TownThis article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license Read theoriginal article.Post published in:FeaturedRelatedWhy Mushayavanhu doesn’t see that increased ZiG usage means Zimbabweans are dumping itWetlands Protection: Post COP 15 recommendations for Harare
John Eppel is better known for his mastery of poems and fiction.Joe Eppel/Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SANhlanhla Dube,University of Cape TownZimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode.During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing.Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question
In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice.Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers.His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing.The literary sketchIn A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family In the prologue, he sets up the context:For this collection I wanted to write about the comic side of my life as a Rhodesian, and the sketch, as a literary genre, seemed more appropriate than a conventional autobiography Although the sketch has a pedigree going back to the 16th century, my interest in it was sparked by Charles Dickens’ first published bookSketches by ‘Boz’.Eppel is an English teacher and literary critic
Literary analysis even informs some of his fictional characters One gets the sense that he intends to make A Colonial Boy Dickensian in gravity, scope and quality.Theliterary sketchis an uncommon mode This complicates our understanding of how Eppel tries to deliver his life’s story Sketches are meant to be brief chronicles of particular events which are not usually connected to a larger story
It’s doubtful that the linear timeline of a human life can be accurately represented through the literary sketch.The randomness of the sketch as a stylistic method does not adhere well to theclassical imageof the autobiographer as a “self-interested individual intent on assessing the status of the soul” This becomes apparent when Eppel moves quickly from sketch to sketch without giving full details and reflection on the incidents being invoked.Even when writing this book review, it is difficult to give you, the reader, an accurate idea of what Eppel has to say, on reflection, about his earlier years The scenes (or sketches) do not demonstrate a unity of purpose Rather than Eppel saying “this is what happened in my life and I would like you to know about it so that you get to know me better”, the reader gets “this is what happened on a random day in a particular year in colonial Rhodesia, so make of it what you will”
To be fair, Eppel does warn the reader in advance:What you will find in these pages is a series of anecdotes about me from toddlerhood to my early thirties.Fine But what is the point of this randomness?My reading is that it’s an attempt to introduce narrative detachment – in the same way as an author would create distance between themself and their character The problem is, this is not a novel There should not be a border between the narrator and the protagonist in self life writing.White men and warOf course, Eppel might have good reason for wanting to create narrative detachment
Other white Zimbabwean writers have seen their autobiographical writings affect their daily lives David Coltart’smemoirs, for example, generated muchdiscussionover his role in the Rhodesian security forces He was one of the many white men required to undergo compulsory service by the white minority government.In his sketches, Eppel gives very brief details about his time serving in the armed forces Ever the renegade with a problem with authority, he describes his time in the Rhodesian army as “eight weeks of institutionalised hell”
TheChimurengawar was fought by black nationalists in order to bring about democracy and black majority rule Eppel essentially acknowledges that morally, he was on the wrong side of that war.Eppel is also aware of how the literary establishment haslabelledhis work as Rhodesian racist rhetoric This is a charge Eppel scholars like myself have tried to fight Regardless, Eppel wisely refuses to elaborate on his operational activities in the war:I was involved in one contact, near a post on the Mozambique border called Vila Salazar
I have recorded this contact in poetry (confessional) and in prose (satirical), but there is no place for it on these pages.The political considerations Eppel had in mind when writing these sketches prevent the reader from gaining a non-fictional account of his wartime experience.Autobiographies can come in the form of anapologia This is often a memoir written by politicians at the end of their careers todefendcertain policy positions they took By avoiding the military issue, Eppel wisely moves away from turning these sketches into an apologia.A welcome book but a difficult readA Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars such as myself It does a lot to connect the man to his fiction
However, I struggle to see its relevance to the general readership.Avid readers of fast paced white Zimbabwean autobiographies will likely lament the lack of action in these sketches They will probably abhor the sketch form itself There are no clear villains here The thematic identifiers that define white Zimbabwean autobiography are absent
There are no enduring images of black Zimbabwean suffering, no corruption, no racial violence, no farms taken, and no white people beaten up.Perhaps though, this is the point Eppel is trying to make A life well lived should not have to be a spectacle.Nhlanhla Dube, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of English Literary Studies,University of Cape TownThis article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license Read theoriginal article.Post published in:Featured
John Eppel is better known for his mastery of poems and fiction.Joe Eppel/Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SANhlanhla Dube,University of Cape TownZimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode.During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing.Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question
In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice.Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers.His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing.The literary sketchIn A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family In the prologue, he sets up the context:For this collection I wanted to write about the comic side of my life as a Rhodesian, and the sketch, as a literary genre, seemed more appropriate than a conventional autobiography Although the sketch has a pedigree going back to the 16th century, my interest in it was sparked by Charles Dickens’ first published bookSketches by ‘Boz’.Eppel is an English teacher and literary critic
Literary analysis even informs some of his fictional characters One gets the sense that he intends to make A Colonial Boy Dickensian in gravity, scope and quality.Theliterary sketchis an uncommon mode This complicates our understanding of how Eppel tries to deliver his life’s story Sketches are meant to be brief chronicles of particular events which are not usually connected to a larger story
It’s doubtful that the linear timeline of a human life can be accurately represented through the literary sketch.The randomness of the sketch as a stylistic method does not adhere well to theclassical imageof the autobiographer as a “self-interested individual intent on assessing the status of the soul” This becomes apparent when Eppel moves quickly from sketch to sketch without giving full details and reflection on the incidents being invoked.Even when writing this book review, it is difficult to give you, the reader, an accurate idea of what Eppel has to say, on reflection, about his earlier years The scenes (or sketches) do not demonstrate a unity of purpose Rather than Eppel saying “this is what happened in my life and I would like you to know about it so that you get to know me better”, the reader gets “this is what happened on a random day in a particular year in colonial Rhodesia, so make of it what you will”
To be fair, Eppel does warn the reader in advance:What you will find in these pages is a series of anecdotes about me from toddlerhood to my early thirties.Fine But what is the point of this randomness?My reading is that it’s an attempt to introduce narrative detachment – in the same way as an author would create distance between themself and their character The problem is, this is not a novel There should not be a border between the narrator and the protagonist in self life writing.White men and warOf course, Eppel might have good reason for wanting to create narrative detachment
Other white Zimbabwean writers have seen their autobiographical writings affect their daily lives David Coltart’smemoirs, for example, generated muchdiscussionover his role in the Rhodesian security forces He was one of the many white men required to undergo compulsory service by the white minority government.In his sketches, Eppel gives very brief details about his time serving in the armed forces Ever the renegade with a problem with authority, he describes his time in the Rhodesian army as “eight weeks of institutionalised hell”
TheChimurengawar was fought by black nationalists in order to bring about democracy and black majority rule Eppel essentially acknowledges that morally, he was on the wrong side of that war.Eppel is also aware of how the literary establishment haslabelledhis work as Rhodesian racist rhetoric This is a charge Eppel scholars like myself have tried to fight Regardless, Eppel wisely refuses to elaborate on his operational activities in the war:I was involved in one contact, near a post on the Mozambique border called Vila Salazar
I have recorded this contact in poetry (confessional) and in prose (satirical), but there is no place for it on these pages.The political considerations Eppel had in mind when writing these sketches prevent the reader from gaining a non-fictional account of his wartime experience.Autobiographies can come in the form of anapologia This is often a memoir written by politicians at the end of their careers todefendcertain policy positions they took By avoiding the military issue, Eppel wisely moves away from turning these sketches into an apologia.A welcome book but a difficult readA Colonial Boy is a welcome book for Eppel scholars such as myself It does a lot to connect the man to his fiction
However, I struggle to see its relevance to the general readership.Avid readers of fast paced white Zimbabwean autobiographies will likely lament the lack of action in these sketches They will probably abhor the sketch form itself There are no clear villains here The thematic identifiers that define white Zimbabwean autobiography are absent
There are no enduring images of black Zimbabwean suffering, no corruption, no racial violence, no farms taken, and no white people beaten up.Perhaps though, this is the point Eppel is trying to make A life well lived should not have to be a spectacle.Nhlanhla Dube, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of English Literary Studies,University of Cape TownThis article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license Read theoriginal article Nhlanhla Dube,University of Cape Town
Zimbabwean writerJohn Eppel’s literary career has always been defined by one peculiar trait
He publishes fictionalwork, in stark contrast to the majority of the country’s other white writers who have fetishised the autobiographical mode During the post 2000s period, white Zimbabweannarratives of crisiswhich focused on theland reformprogramme gained aninternationalfollowing Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was fought primarily over the land question In colonialRhodesia, racist apportionment of fertile land meant that the black majority was removed from productive farmland
The land reform programme sought to correct this historical injustice Eppel’s focus onnovels,poetryandshortstoriesexplains why he is rarely ever mentioned with autobiographical writers such asPeterGodwin,AlexandraFuller,Judith ToddandDouglas Rogers His shift to the autobiographical mode withA Colonial Boy: Sketches of My Life Before Zimbabwean Independence, 1950-1980 from indie publisherPigeon Books, invites those of us who arescholarsof his work to re-interrogate his writing In A Colonial Boy, Eppel takes the reader through his early days in South Africa and Swaziland and his arrival in Southern Rhodesia with his family
In the prologue, he sets up the context:
Source: The Zimbabwean
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Source: Thezimbabwean
