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Buchi Emecheta arrives a few minutes late, somewhat flustered by the
"hectic day and horrendous traffic". Dressed in a sparkly sequinned evening dress, confidence oozes from every
pore. It is difficult to believe that this is a
woman who, 24 years ago, arrived in England with next to nothing.
Buchi Emecheta has now written no fewer than 19 novels, the proceeds from which have
supported her since 1972. Not only is she a successful author, she also has an
astounding academic record. She began her university career as a
single mother of five children at the age of 22. Taking a sociology degree and
working to support her family, she would rise at dawn to pursue her dream of
becoming a writer. She was heavily influenced by her Nigerian compatriot Flora
Nwapa, and Emecvheta refers to herself as Nwapa's 'new sister.'
Her first article for a magazine, 'Observations of the London Poor' which
became the novel In the Ditch, dealt with poverty in London and the
difficulties of adjusting to a different culture. Emecheta drew her material
directly from her own life, which she describes as
"charting my own social reality," and she has continued to focus
upon the lives of the Black immigrant woman.
Like her Nigerian ancestors, she uses stories to teach morals, to entertain and
to instruct. She brings to her writing the Igbo qualities of vividness,
economy and directness. She speaks for the marginalized woman. She views her
writing as the
"release for all my anger, all my bitterness,
my disappointments, my questions and my joy."
Like Toni Morrison, she believes that
"fiction has a vital social responsibility."
"In all my novels," she asserts,
"I deal with the many problems and prejudices which exist for Black people in
Britain today."
Buchi Emecheta is a
lively, energetic and strong woman, seemingly unaffected by her success. She
is passionate about her heritage, her culture and her writing. As both speaker
and writer she has an important role. She highlights the problems and
prejudices which many Black people face; she brings the voice of the Black
person into existence, a voice which has suffered degradation and
humiliation. Diversity
It is message which she is quite keen to take on the road through visits and
workshops with ordinary people up and down the country.
"I believe it is important to speak to your readers in person... to enable
people to have a whole picture of me; I have to both write and speak.
I view my role as writer and also as oral communicator." In this respect, she retains the strong oral traditional of Africa. She
combines cultural aspects of both societies.
Within the diversity of her performance, she brings the history and
inspirations of her novels into the context of her life. She told me about her
latest novel, Kehinde.
Kehinde is centered
around an awareness of cultural priorities and differences. Emecheta recounted
her experience of visiting a friend in a psychiatric hospital in London where,
"out of the 11 patients, nine were Black,". She discovered that this wasn't because any of them actually suffered from a
mental illness, but because they had all stated
"that they heard
voices and spoke to that voice."
Your 'chi' (or spirit) is regarded is part of everyday life in Igbo societies
in Nigeria, whereas in spiritually lacking Britain it is deemed a sign of
insanity. I asked her what happened to the women.
"Well," she said with a grin,
"the government introduced
cut-backs and they were all released ... and," she says,
"they didn't kill anyone!"
Strong and conscientious, she is a woman who has never forgotten her roots.
She has written numerous plays for the BBC, as well as children's books, and
has recently set up her own publishing firm, Ogwugwu Afor, with her journalist
son to provide
a much needed platform and financial support for Black artists.
Added to her commitments, she helps her extended family in Nigeria,
"where I support 31 people." She keeps in touch with her ancestral roots by returning home for three to six
months each year. In her
own words,
"I keep my two worlds, my two cultures". Going back there on these visits gives her the opportunity to confront the
changing traditional culture in her native land.
Born into this Igbo culture which prized boys far more highly than girls,
Emecheta had married and had a
baby by the time she was 17. Desperate to fulfil her father's wish that a
member of his family would visit the 'Kingdom of God' (England), she persuaded
her in-laws to let her follow her husband to England, determined to be 'a good
African wife.' She quickly realised that she had made a mistake and she broke
free, and this is the beginning of her
making a life for herself.
She describes those early days in London as a single mother as being
"a very, very hard life, both financially and emotionally". I asked how she juggled the role of mother, student, worker and writer. She
replied:
"If I was not to perish here, I realised that
I had to find something I was good at. My books are about survival, just like
my own life." How did you manage to write with the children? She answers quietly and
simply,
"I had to write because of them." Heart
Her success could well have contributed to how she draws on lived reality for
the basis of her
novels, as autobiography is an intricate part of how she writes. I asked her
about her use of this form and how she regarded it.
"Well, I admit that I'm not really very creative. I have to experience
something or know someone who has seen something in order to write
convincingly. People keep
on going back to them (the autobiographical books) because when they read them
they see a mirror of their own lives." Emecheta uses autobiography to give a true picture of her world, a world which
was for so long denied.
I was intrigued to see how she regarded the British society in which she lived
for
so long. Also her thoughts on her use of English has enabled me to tell my
stories to a broader audience, but it will never be my emotional language.
Igbo is my emotional language. English sounds colourless and grey in
translation. Igbo uses colourful phrases, and the language
itself will always remain closest to my heart." Courage
She continues to work hard. She followed her first degree with an MPhil in
social education and finally completed her PhD in 1991. Alice Walker considers
that Emecheta
"integrates the profession of writer into the cultural concept of mother/worker" because she is
both.
Buchi Emecheta is an important figure both as an author and as an individual.
Her battle cry -
"Black women all over the world should re-unite and re-examine the way history
has portrayed us" - might have been uttered by many others, from Maya Angelou to South Africa's
Bessie Head.
She challenges and triumphs over the social and political restrictions of race
and gender which many Black people face. She writes to educate White and Black
society about the realities of Black experience. She uncovers the lies which
colonisation wove.
"At last," she states,
"I have the courage to say I write
for Blacks."
Emecheta tells the story of Black women as equals. She gives women positive
roles, encourages education and is not satisfied just with the roles of wife
and mother:
"Women are capable of living for so many other reasons than men," she states with a coy grin.
Dangerously, I
asked her about the issue of feminism and whether she regarded her fiction as
feminist-based.
"I work toward the liberation of women," she states,
"but I'm not feminist. I'm just a woman."
Her story is one which gives hope to us all. She turned her dreams into
reality. In her own words, whatever you
want to do with your life.
"Just keep trying and trying. If you have the determination and commitment you
will succeed."
Interviewed by Julie Holmes in The Voice July 9, 1996.