Author: Antjie Krog
Publisher: Zebra Press
Cape Town, 2009
ISBN 9781770220706
Softcover, 15x23cm, 304 pages
Ein akademischer Versuch der (weißen) Autorin, sich über philosophische, historische und semifiktive Ansätze als Person und ideales Mitglied der südafrikanischen Gesellschaft zu finden.
In 1992, a gang leader was shot dead by an ANC member in Kroonstad. The murder weapon was then hidden on Antjie Krog’s stoep.
In Begging to Be Black, Krog begins by exploring her position in this controversial case. From there the book ranges widely in scope, both in time – reaching back to the days of Basotho king Moshoeshoe – and in space – as we follow Krog’s experiences as a research fellow in Berlin, far from the Africa that produced her.
Begging to Be Black is a book of journeys – moral, historical, philosophical and geographical. These form strands that Krog interweaves and sets in conversation with each other, as she explores questions of change and becoming, coherency and connectedness, before drawing them closer together as the book approaches its powerful end.
Experimental and courageous, Begging to Be Black is a welcome addition to Krog’s own oeuvre and to South African literary non-fiction.
Antjie Krog was born in Kroonstad and grew up on a farm in the Free State. She has published eight volumes of poetry, several of which have been translated into European languages and have won local and international prizes.