Rozena Maart

Rozena Maart (* 1962 in Cape Town , South Africa ) is a South African lecturer in English literature, philosophy and psychoanalysis and a writer. She lives in Cape Town and Guelph, Canada . She is known for her award-winning literary works as well as for her political actions against apartheid and against violent discrimination against women. She has taught in Canada, the United States, and other countries.

Life

Rozena Maart was born in 1962 as the daughter of Mona and Stanley Maart in District Six , Cape Town's old slave quarter. Her ancestors on her mother's side include members of the San and Khoi as well as Hindu ancestors from Java , who had been forcibly abducted by the English to the Cape Colony via a detour from St. Helena around 1800 . Her family name marks the time of her release from slavery in Dutch . Maart means March in Dutch. Rozena Maart grew up with her grandfather's patriarchal family. She only met her father when she was 18; whose ancestors came from Mauritius . Her family was literally forcibly deported from the district under the government's Forced Removal Act in 1973 . She later studied at the University of the Western Cape (1981-1986) and then moved to the University of York in the United Kingdom (1987/88), where she took her Masters . She then went to the University of Birmingham (1993–1996) to graduate from the Center for Cultural Studies with a Doctor of Philosophy .

During her studies she worked from 1985 to 1987 in the Groote Schuur Hospital , Cape Town, in the emergency department and gynecology.

In 1987, nominated Rozena Maart because of their political and social activities against violence against women in Johannesburg for Woman of the Year . Another reason for the award was the foundation of the first colored feminist organization in Cape Town, Women Against Repression (WAR); she initiated this organization together with four other women. In 1989, in Cali , Colombia , Maart taught English literature at the Colegio Jefferson for a year.

In 1989 Maart moved to Canada, initially working in a private practice for psychoanalysis (1989 to 1991), writing for various literary magazines and being a consultant for art exhibitions and women's issues. In 1992 she worked for the Canadian Panel on Violence against Women , a $ 10 million initiative by the Canadian Department of Health, as a research fellow and writer on the issues of women of color . She taught women's studies and creative writing at the University of Ottawa (1991-1994) while doing her PhD there. Further academic positions of Maart were the Universidad del Valle, again in Cali, Colombia (1996-1997 as a scientific advisor on gender studies ), lecturer at Mills College in Oakland (1998, interdisciplinary seminars, English, philosophy and cultural studies) and at the University of Guelph (1999/2001, English and Art), director at the "Biko Institute" in Guelph (2001/2006), named after Steve Biko , lecturer at the University of the Western Cape (2007, for English language ) and 2010-2011 for a few months at the University of Waterloo . In 2017 she worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal , where she heads the Center for Critical Research on Race and Identity.

Rozena Maart published her first volume of poetry in 1990: Talk About it! . In 1992 she won the Journey Prize for her short story No Rosa, No District Six . The "Journey Prize" is a Canadian literary prize that has existed since 1989 and is awarded annually by the McClelland and Stewart publishing house in Toronto and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short story by an aspiring writer published in a Canadian literary magazine. No Rosa, No District Six later also appeared in her first collection of short stories entitled Rosa's District Six , with the character of Rosa holding all of the narratives in it together.

Maart has appeared literary as the author of various volumes of poetry, collections of short stories, non-fiction books and novels. Her novel The Writing Circle (2007), in which a writing circle of women of color describes their experiences of violence, was presented in a television production . Rosa's District Six has made it onto the 2006 Canadian weekly bestseller list and the 2006 HOMEBRU list in South Africa.

In 2006, as one of 24 women of color of African origin, she was honored by the Provincial Governor of Ontario, who herself had colored ancestors from Haiti , in the inaugural program Encré Noire / Black Ink . In April 2009 Maart worked at the Oppressed Festival in Palestine as a theater director and writer.

Caricature criticism

When, in early 2008, the nationally published Canadian daily The Globe and Mail mocked itself in a cartoon about the Afrocentric school in Canada by showing an Afro-Canadian teacher in front of a blackboard with mathematical equations and the slang phrase "S'up dog" thrown under the Heading Afrocentric Algebra , Rozena Maart wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper. In it she stated that the origins of mathematics would now also lie in Egypt , which, as is well known, belongs to Africa itself, which is actually the starting point for the caricature. By making use of Eurocentric clichés, the caricature reveals an outright racism :

“The history of Algebra began in ancient Egypt, and thus it was Egyptians who taught Algebra to members of their society, those close by who came in droves from Greece, and the rest of the world. The last time I checked, Egypt was and still remains to be located in North Africa. Why on earth, would anyone assume that the teaching of Algebra in an Afrocentric school system would be accompanied by street slang, suggestive of a particular aspect of popular culture, which whether its origins are to be found among a select few among African American proponents of Black popular culture, does not mean that expressions such as the one your cartoon utilizes should be used to depict the teaching methods employed by Afrocentric teachers to their learners. The cartoon is racist, inflammatory, completely and utterly ignorant and highly out of a place, especially in a national newspaper, which has regularly sought to depict its stance among readers as a fair and just one ”

“The history of algebra began in ancient Egypt, and so it was the Egyptians who taught algebra to those who were part of their society, those who flocked like the Greeks, and the rest of the world. The last time I checked, Egypt was still part of North Africa. Why in the world would anyone assume that teaching algebra in an Afrocentric school system goes hand in hand with street jargon, referring to a particular aspect of popular culture that, while having its roots among a few African-American proponents of black popular culture, does not mean that utterances like the ones in your cartoon can be used to depict a particular picture of the teaching methods used by Afrocentric teachers. This cartoon is racist, inflammatory, totally and utterly ignorant and completely out of place, especially in a national newspaper that is actually anxious to maintain its position as a fair and just newspaper with its readers. "

- Rozena Maart

The publisher had to apologize due to the wide range of acclaim Maart received. A racist representation was not intended and only resulted from the simplification of the presentation, in addition, the works of Afro-Canadian authors such as Carolyn Abraham , Caroline Alphonso , James Bradshaw , Karen Howlett and Jill Mahoney have recently been promoted.

Works

Poetry

• Talk about it! Williams-Wallace Publishers, Stratford, Ontario 1990, ISBN 0-88795-095-7 .

Non-fiction

• The absence of knowledge of white consciousness in contemporary feminist theory, or, consciousness, knowledge and morality. Awomandla, Toronto 1999, ISBN 0-9686446-0-0 .

Short stories

• Rosa's District Six . TSAR Publications, Toronto 2004 and 2006, ISBN 1-894770-16-1 .

novel

• The Writing Circle. TSAR Publications, Toronto 2007, ISBN 978-1-894770-37-8 .

Essays, articles, essays

• Feminist Pavement Politics. In: Lives of Courage, Women for a New South Africa . Published by Diana Russell, Basic Books, California, September 1989.
• Black, African Feminism needs to forge an agenda. In: The Varsity , Toronto: February 1990.
• Threading together past, present and future. In: The Gargoyle: Black History Month Special Issue , Toronto, February 1990.
• Feminism in the 1990s. In: Moving Forward Conference: Speeches and Proceedings Fall 1990.
• African Oral Power: In Defiance of the Colonialism of the Written Word. In: Fuse Magazine: Canada's Magazine on Culture and Society, Spring 1991.
• The Politics of Denouncement: Clarence Thomas As Supreme Court Judge. In: Fuse Magazine: Canada's Magazine on Culture and Society : Vol. 15 No. 4: spring 1992.
• To Immaculate Conception. In: Voices: Canadian Writers of African Descent , June 1992, HarperCollins: Toronto, Canada.
• Consciousness, Knowledge and Morality: The Absence of the Knowledge of White Consciousness in Contemporary Feminist Theory. In: A Reader in Feminist Ethics (Ed.) Debra Shogan, Canadian Scholars Press: Toronto, September 1992; New edition 1993, 1995, 1997.
• Cultural Appropriation: Historicizing Individuality, Consciousness and Actions. In: Fuse Magazine: Canada's Magazine on Culture and Society: Toronto, Canada. Summer, Double-Issue: 1993.
• Language and Consciousness. In: Fireweed: A Feminist Journal , No. 39: Toronto, Canada. Summer 1994.
• Portrait of the Colonized in Bhaji on the Beach. In: Fuse Magazine: Canada's Magazine on Culture and Society. Toronto, Canada. Summer 1994.
• The White Screen, The White Canvas. In: The Ontarian. January 2004. Guelph, Ontario.
• Rozena Maart speaks out on Black Consciousness. In: The Ontarian. February 2004.
• Hinterland, neighbors 02/06. People, not victims - The writer Rozena Maart on her book Rosa's District Six , p. 32f. November 2006.
• Rebels with a Cause: Giving Voice to Dissidence by Focusing on the Mind. The rise of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. In: Dissidence et Identite Plurielles , Universitaire de Nancy: Paris, 2008.
• Bollywood and the Politics of identity or How Bollywood influenced Identity Politics in Apartheid South Africa. In: Horizons: Women's News and Feminist Views , Summer 2009: Canada.

drama

• Who do you think you are? A series of six interconnect skits on the history of oppression in South Africa. Writer and Director. Performed at the Second International Theater of the Oppressed Festival in Palestine, April, 2009.

Awards and nominations

• 1990: Journey Prize for No Rosa, No District Six
• 2006: Encré Noire / Black Ink - Inaugural Program.

review

Rosa's District 6

• "Finding courage, humor, and humanity within oppressive circumstances is a rare but hopeful thing in this bitter world. One such discovery is Rosa's District 6, a series of short stories situated in 1960s Cape Town, South Africa, during the era of apartheid. (...) The stories are filled with wit and pathos, and while the plots occasionally feel improbable, the reader is completely engaged with the strange goings-on in this singular community. The sometimes rambling storytelling style reflects the importance of the characters' oral traditions. It also allows for delightful surprises in the telling. "

The Writing Circle

• "The brutality that lies just beneath the sophisticated veneer of these women's lives is depicted with honesty and immediacy, and is yet another reminder that violence against women knows no class boundaries. Told almost as a murder mystery (complete with a twist ending), the intertwining stories create a universal tale of profound suffering, grief, and, refreshingly, humor. "
• "Rozena Maart's second novel is about a specific kind of writing: it's about writing violence — historical violence, social violence, misogynist violence. Its subject is a cycle of violence determined not only by stereotyping, but also by past and present cultural conditioning. (...) The Writing Circle is not an easy read: the shifting narrative voices are effective but at times disrupting. However, these voices are also what allow The Writing Circle's expansive cultural commentary to flourish. "

literature

• Diana Chlebek: Canada. In: Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 43, no. 4 (2008): pp. 31-61.
• Crystal Warren: South Africa. In: Journal of Commonwealth Literature , 43, no. 4 (2008): pp. 183-217.

Web links

• Literature by and about Rozena Maart in the bibliographic database WorldCat
• Rozena Maart's Website Accessed July 19, 2012.
• Author portrait of Rozena Maart on TSAR books. Accessed 19 July 2012.
• Interview with Rozena Maart on Minister Faustus . November 2007. Accessed July 19, 2012.
• THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF WOMEN PHILOSOPHERS, sponsored by UNESCO, was held on December 14th and 15th 2009 in Paris, France. Thoughts and Reflections of Day One by Rozena Maart . Accessed July 19, 2012.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry on Maart in the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), accessed August 15, 2012.
2. ↑ Maart's biography on her homepage, accessed on August 15, 2012 (English).
3. ↑ Thesis : "The Politics of Consciousness: The Consciousness of Politics. When Black Consciousness Meets White Consciousness. "
4. ↑ Maart's homepage ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 15, 2012. 
5. ↑ Caricature Afrocentric Algebra . In: The Globe and Mail . February 18, 2008. Accessed July 20, 2012.
6. ↑ Presentation on Maart's homepage , accessed on August 15, 2012 (English).
7. ^ Homepage of Maart
8. ↑ Review: Geoffrey V. Davis: Talk About It! by Rozena Maart & Bright's Crossing by Anne Cameron. In: Canadian Literature. Vol. 134, autumn 1992.
9. ↑ Laurel Smith: Rosa's District 6 by Rozena Maart. In: Quill & Quire . September 2007. Accessed July 19, 2012.
10. ^ Laurel Smith: Review of The Writing Circle by Rozena Maart. In: Quill & Quire . September 2007. Accessed July 19, 2012.
11. ^ Myrl Coulter: Circle of Abuse. In: Canadian Literature. Vol. 200, Spring 2009. pp. 170-172. Retrieved July 19, 2012.