Source: The Namibian
There is courage to be drawn from those who have gone before. There is strength to be collected in the stark black words of those who have taken a simple yet subversive stand and lived bright though briefly in a world that often questions a woman's solitude, her independencem and her unyielding ambition.
It's been five years since Neshani Andreas was laid to rest. Fifteen since Heinemann first published Andreas' 'The Purple Violet of Oshaantu' (2001) in which the author lent legitimacy to stories of ordinary occurrence in the lives of ordinary people as Namibia's literary landscape began to bloom in the remarkable red of struggle stories.
While the exiled told tales of displacement and alienation and the heroes bore witness to apartheid's untold atrocities, having not been involved in notable political activities, Andreas' struggle was different. The more commonplace battle of being a woman.
Born in Walvis Bay in 1964, Andreas grew up to be a teacher, an associate director of the local US Peace Corps and a programme officer for the Forum of African Women Educationalists in Namibia (Fawena). A career path that involved teaching in the rural North, the social, religious and traditional complexities of which would become the backdrop of her first novel.
Telling the tale of Mee Ali and young Kauna, the former a happily married village woman juxtaposed with her terribly mistreated friend and neighbour, 'The Purple Violet of Oshaantu' is a simple yet beautiful tale of feminine strength, friendship and pride in the face of hardship, spousal abuse and tradition.
Often described as a soft-spoken and gentle woman, Andreas' novel reflects her character.
Unequivocally criticising certain elements of traditional Namibian society and ultimately condemning gender-based violence, adultery and the treatment of widows, Andreas' activism is ever tempered by her descriptions of the beauty of village life and the inclusion of a positive male figure in contrast to the story's male antagonist.
Though there was and is still much to be said about the liberation struggle, this delicate balancing act at once representing and celebrating Oshiwambo culture while decrying its more oppressive elements through the trials of realistic characters garnered much success as the first Namibian novel to be published within the esteemed Heinemann African Writers Series and it is still in print today.
Fifteen years later where issues of patriarchy, tradition and gender based violence remain oppressive forces in the lives of both rural and urban Namibian women.
Advocating for a level of equality through Mee Ali while condemning abuse through young Kauna who balks at tradition and refuses to mourn the end of beatings and humiliation, 'The Purple Violet of Oshaantu' is a feminist novel about everyday insurrection buoyed by small human victories in the struggle for dignity in an oppressive yet largely accepted status quo.
'''The Purple Violet of Oshaantu' deals with issues which are very relevant to women's lives in Namibia up to today.
By placing her female characters centre stage as speaking subjects in their own story, opposing their oppression in many small ways, Andreas represents them in a manner that counters the portrayal of the subaltern woman as 'voiceless' in both colonial and African male literature, says former lecturer at the University of Namibia (Unam) and the Polytechnic of Namibia Aletta Rhode, who wrote her masters dissertation on the book.
Having interviewed Andreas on more than one occasion while writing her thesis and selecting 'The Purple Violet of Oshaantu' as one of the prescribed books for the Namibian Literature course she was lecturing at Unam at the time, Rhode came to know Andreas who also addressed her students on the relevant issues in the novel.
Andreas was a brave woman who did not shy away from confronting Namibians with issues that are difficult to face, like the endemic violence against women in our society.
I still remember how simply she put her depiction of the social issues she dealt with in her novel in an interview I had with her in 2003: I am merely holding up a mirror to Namibian society, reflecting the violence in our country. Surely, if you see your face reflected in this mirror, you would want to change.
Not only a soldier in the struggle for women's rights, the single, sometimes lonely, often discouraged yet determined Andreas continues to inspire fellow writers through her authenticity, simplicity and success even after her death.
I think in many ways, 'The Purple Violet of Oshaantu' itself as a book, and the fact that it was published by a brand as prestigious as Heinemann African Writers Series, led many young women writers, not only novelists but also poets and short story writers, to strive to put their work 'out there' in the public domain, says published poet and NUST lecturer Hugh Ellis, who recalls being taught Oshiwambo by a passionate and unpretentious Andreas at the Polytechnic of Namibia in the mid-90s.
Namibia lost a gentle fighter for women's rights, who used her writing as a 'weapon' - as the Senegalese author and feminist writer Mariama Ba put it - to fight the violence and oppression of women in our society, not in a grand political manner, but by trying to empower women in her novel, says Rhode considering the loss of a local literary legend whose international star had just begun to rise.
Felled by lung cancer in 2011 at the age of 47, Neshani's legacy persists as does the call for the posthumous publishing of the manuscript the author was working on when she passed away. A book which her former colleague and friend Erika von Weitersheim whets the appetite for in this description:
Andreas deeply loved and respected her culture, and in her second book she has painted a colourful and multifaceted picture of life in a northern Namibian village in pre-colonial times, with meticulous attention to detail.
But she was also critical and eager to question and analyse. What was the rationale behind certain rigid customs? How was life for a woman who could not bear children? For a girl who behaved more like a boy? For a man who was not interested in having a family?
Indeed, what was life like for the individuals who did not quite fit into the mainstream?
The dreamers, the deviants, the misfits...