Many languages, no barrier
Gova – (poems, drawings, and audio CD)
Ike Mboneni Muila
2004
Botsotso Publishing, Johannesburg
101 pages
Review by Allan Kolski Horwitz
The word-wand weaves images that translate from our experience. Conducted by imagination, they become part of the sensual world – the world of hard and soft knocks, perfumes and stenches. In the 1950s, the so-called ‘tsotsi taal’ of the townships, the slang used by the most marginalised – the criminals and the artists – developed in response to the innate hunger that all people have to express themselves, and to do so in the language that most reflected themselves and their environment.
So it was, in a spirit of defiance and verve that all the languages spoken in the polyglot Black ghettoes were incorporated into an urban argot that became known as Isicamtho. Out of the ‘mix and marry’ of new expressions a vibrant bridge crossed chasms in all directions. A language that embraces the diverse language heritage of South Africa's fractured society – that is surely a creation to treasure.
Such is the word-wand that Ike Mboneni Muila plays with – and play is the word, for Isicamtho is above all a joyous and tongue-in-cheek grootbek (big talker) of a lingo.
Isicamtho is so juicy it strikes one as being a relative of Yiddish, that other extraordinary hybrid of languages. And Ike as a master practitioner, conjures the craziness into subconscious order. The train of his associations screams across our minds, awakening in turn our own further associations – transformed and transforming. So for those who are not intimately acquainted with Isicamtho one can only advise – dive in! Do not get stuck on individual words/expressions – plunge head first into the maelstrom. Only then will you break the language barrier.
'Do not get stuck on individual words – plunge head first into the maelstrom. Only then will you break the language barrier'
Of course, those who are longtime wasekaye or bandiete, will appreciate the subtleties, the finer points, and savour them. But first-timers too will taste the fruits with great delight as many others have over the years until we became more and more attuned – not just to the words themselves but to the rhythms and the intonations.
Given the South African tendency to be dominated by other imperial cultures (once European, now North American) Ike stands out as a South African original – not that he is the first to write in Isicamtho (many others have done so), but that he is the first to build a developed body of work that is entirely in Isicamtho and makes no apology for doing so.
How refreshing to hear his work in the middle of the hip-hop/rap bombardment or the pseudo-Rasta talk and spelling affected by so many young and not-so young poets! Isicamtho is best experienced live, in performance. The words flow like a tide, musical to their core. In this regard, the compact disk recording that accompanies the book captures the irrepressible energy of the poems that a quiet reading on the page cannot do justice to. Indeed, a considerable attraction of the book is the CD – especially as it captures Ike’s unique voice.
The situations and emotions on which his poems are based remain individual and yet at the same time carry the imprint of wider social influences. And both the style and content challenge orthodoxy and comfort. Small wonder that the esteemed but out-of-touch anthologists of South African poetry do not take the trouble to properly engage with Ike’s work. And when they do, they show their condescension, lacking the feel to identify the most powerful, the most vital.
The anthologists’ insularity is further confirmation of their irrelevancy – proof that a definitive South African anthology of contemporary poetry is still very much lacking. Indeed, witness their battle to accept Wopko Jensma, one of our most dynamic, innovative and profound poets.
Ike’s early work as published in the late 1990s in the Botsotso Jester poetry collective books, We Jive Like This and Dirty Washing, established his presence. This collection takes that work several steps further. May you enjoy the ride!
And, in true "Scamtho style, let Ike have the last word!
buddy scamtho. . . first and foremost I accept and thank you for your invitation
with my most humble beginnings
I am into creative writing as a poet and artist
my narrative oral mix is in the eleven languages spoken
in south africa
by and by trapped in one poem
the so-called tsotsi taal isicamtho lingo alive
and kicking
sense of humour in you and me
mixing a witty lingo
an ordinary person
in the street of language. . .
unity in diversity
matakadza mbilu, ndi nwana
chu chu baby, ndi nwana
talk talk baby, ndi nwana
cry cry baby, ndi nwana
ah ah baby, ndi nwana
a song of the malende dance culture which says
what brings happiness to the heart is a child. . .
greetings in a south african way
one could say
we molo
abusheni halo
sanibonani
riya losha
welele ebukhosini bakhiwa hola
sharp hoezit
moja. . .
before I deliver any lines
I would love to read you this letter. . .
wangu dear ike
waar en hoe is jy
nou die tyd jump tyd humoursdorp
geen moratowa naby die kant for dice
ou matwetwe nguluvhe spy
haba haba njalaza humoursdorp
or kanjani tsar. . .
where are my love letters
I keep on sending you to no avail
shiyabuya ike. . .
I believe you believe
that we all believe you are
what you write about
baby you are a tsotsi
in a tsotsitaal skin mjucate
where did we go wrong
in those sweet moments of love
humoursdorp hanging on the edge of eternity
bambezela tsotsi siya jika
corner scrash travelling rugs veranda stoep no dice
hoor net daar mjucate
my man is madly in love ringas wise
I mean in love with the tsotsitaal
isicamtho wasekhaya
kindly do return my love regards
in a witty lingo half moja ek se. . .
of hoe se ek nou die laaste madala site caution
welele wele wele wela wela
your sincvere ncasment
umaqumbane
x love in disarray
Allan Horwitz is a writer and member of the Botsotso arts collective based in South Africa.
