Books about Us

Tsitsi Dangarembga started writing because she couldn’t find any books that were about her. The acclaimed author was born in present-day Zimbabwe, a former British colony where the effects of colonialism are still very present. Like many other young Africans, she was educated according to the principles and values of the Empire and a society that put her in second place. There, in the act of narrating the young Dangarembga found a way to exist, a possibility of being and doing beyond the limitations imposed on her as a woman and as an African.

For Tsitsi Dangarembga, narrating ourselves is essential to know who we are and to be able to make ourselves visible beyond dominant identities and narratives. Likewise, recognising ourselves in the fictions that other people have written is key to giving ourselves references, expanding our imaginaries, putting words to our discomfort and not feeling left out. In this conversation, she reflects on the power of narration and imagination as means to self-knowledge and emancipation, and defends the importance of a literature that reflects the voices and the experiences of the people who are often sidelined.