A Reckoning with my Dutch Ancestry
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Realisations evoked by Ashraf Kagee's 'Song of the Slave Girl'.
In this episode from The Story Explorer podcast, I take you on a personal journey from growing up in the Netherlands to discovering new perspectives here in South Africa.
Before we start this exploration, a quick spoiler alert, I’ll be sharing key elements from the novel that inspired this episode. Still, I believe I do this in a way that leaves room for your own discoveries.
The focus of this episode is ‘Song of the Slave Girl’ by South African writer, psychologist, and academic Ashraf Kagee. He lives in Cape Town and is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Stellenbosch University. This is his third novel. His debut ‘Khalil’s Journey’ won the European Union Literary Award in 2012 and the South African literary Award in 2013.
Two other books that play an important role in this discussion are: ‘Early Slavery at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1717’ by Karel Schoeman, a celebrated South African historian and novelist, and ‘Indaba, my Children’ by Credo Mutwa, a legendary isiZulu sangoma and keeper of his people’s stories.
These books inspired me to rethink aspects of my Dutch upbringing. In this episode I’ll share with you parts of that journey.
I raise a difficult question for my Dutch listeners. And I offer a kind of ‘retelling’ of the factual record from Schoeman’s research, using a single word as an anchor to change the way we see the world.
In this episode from The Story Explorer podcast, I take you on a personal journey from growing up in the Netherlands to discovering new perspectives here in South Africa.
Before we start this exploration, a quick spoiler alert, I’ll be sharing key elements from the novel that inspired this episode. Still, I believe I do this in a way that leaves room for your own discoveries.
The focus of this episode is ‘Song of the Slave Girl’ by South African writer, psychologist, and academic Ashraf Kagee. He lives in Cape Town and is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Stellenbosch University. This is his third novel. His debut ‘Khalil’s Journey’ won the European Union Literary Award in 2012 and the South African literary Award in 2013.
Two other books that play an important role in this discussion are: ‘Early Slavery at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1717’ by Karel Schoeman, a celebrated South African historian and novelist, and ‘Indaba, my Children’ by Credo Mutwa, a legendary isiZulu sangoma and keeper of his people’s stories.
These books inspired me to rethink aspects of my Dutch upbringing. In this episode I’ll share with you parts of that journey.
I raise a difficult question for my Dutch listeners. And I offer a kind of ‘retelling’ of the factual record from Schoeman’s research, using a single word as an anchor to change the way we see the world.
Chapters
- 00:03 Moving from the Netherlands to South Africa
- 06:13 Shifting Perspectives on Dutch Heritage
- 08:05 Exploring 'Song of the Slave Girl'
- 12:03 Different Cultural Perspectives on Ancestry
- 15:54 Confronting Colonial History through Literature
- 19:54 Historical Truths about Dutch Involvement in Slavery
