A writer\'s journey, Beverley Naidoo PDF

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A writer's journey, Beverley Naidoo In this article, Naidoo is reconstructing why and how she wrote this novel. She reflects on some of the conscious decisions and details in creating and shaping The Other Side of Truth. She's seeking a fresh look at why and how she wrote the novel. First, she gives us some background information about her. Beverley Naidoo was born in 1943 and grew up under Apartheid (a system of institutionalized racial separation and discrimination in South Africa). As a young girl, Naidoo began to question the superiority of white people. She was arrested when she was 21 for her activism in the resistance movement. Her grandparents were economic migrants from Britain to South Africa. They migrated because they knew that colonial life offered excellent prospects to white-skinned Europeans. Africa was full of riches like diamonds and gold. She left South Africa to study at the University of York. She was physically in England, but her head was in South Africa. She made friends with a Nigerian academic, David Oke, and his wife, Bisi. They used to have conversations about South Africa and shared the same idealism. In England, she was able to study African literature, while it was banned in South Africa. Apartheid aimed to separate them physically, intellectually and emotionally. The African works that she read have deeply affected and touched her. So when she worked as a teacher in London, she used to read extracts of those works to her teenager students. They were really touched, as some of them were Caribbean-born (black-skinned). Although they had different life histories, they shared together the power of literature. Literature became a bridge between Naidoo and her students. Her husband was another South African exile like her. The Immorality Act banned marriage between black and white. So, they stayed in England after they married. They were members of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. So, when she started writing for young people, she was determined that the sitting would be South Africa. After she finished her novel 'No Turning Back', which was at the same time as South Africa's first democratic elections, she turned her attention to writing stories located in England. She was determined to make her characters refugees from Nigeria because they experienced the most brutal dictatorship under General Sani Abacha. She also wanted to see the story the viewpoint of the more mature girl, rather than her younger brother. Seeing the events from the point of view of a young person always encourages freshness of vision. It forced Naidoo to search from a certain viewpoint, to pay attention to details and to be imaginative. There's always a sharp contradiction between what a child expects and the reality. A child who's getting ready for school won't expect to hear their mother's screams and gunshots.

Writing this book, she already knew about London, but it was Nigeria that she has never been too. So, she had help from a middle-class Nigerian family where the parents placed huge value on both education and personal qualities. When Naidoo first wrote the novel, she made Sade witness the shooting of her mother. But then she changed it to make her hear it only. Naidoo believes that not witnessing something is more powerful because the imagination takes over. Memory became an important theme in the novel after Sade experiences the loss of her mother, family and home. The images in her head play an important part in creating her interior life. Also, remembering her mother's words helped Sade survive. Naidoo says that it wasn't until this novel was published that she noticed how much Sade's mental processes echoed her own during her early years of exile. According to Naidoo, her novel is both for instruction and delight.

Composed by: Mennah Alshafey. [email protected]...