Full Description
Traditional African narrative forms combined with European modernism.
The stories comprising The Healer, Marek Vadas's first collection, which was originally published in 2006, are steeped in the culture, rituals, and traditions of Africa, blurring the boundaries between dream and reality and peopled with characters whose gender, shape, skin color or even memories may change at a stroke. Nevertheless, Vadas refuses to exoticize this world, and many of the stories, told in pared-down language, blend mythical elements with realistic depictions of harsh living conditions, economic deprivation, and colonial oppression. The narratives unfold from the perspective of their protagonists—children (often orphaned), and men struggling to make ends meet and trying in vain to resist the allure of strong women endowed with magic powers. As a Slovak writer focusing on the African continent, Vadas is a rare voice that helps to build bridges between very different cultures, and now his writing is introduced to the global anglophone readership.
Contents
1.I'm a Boy from a Book
2.I'll Just Sit and Watch
3.Death at a Party
4.Brown One Day, Black the Next
5.Hotel Beau Regard
6.There's Nothing for Me to Forget
7.A New Job
8.A Day Drenched in Water
9.Flying Women
10.Under a Sunlit Sky
11.Mr Hat
12.Pushing the Limits
13.Visit to Lambaréné
14.River
15.How Death Came into the World
16.The Schemer
17.The Shadow
18.The Blaze
19.The New World
20.A Desperately Wonderful Life
21.The Snake Man and the Lion Woman
22.The Field
23.Flesh and Bones
24.Yellow Eyes
25.The King Is Waiting
26.Yola
27.Who's That Brawling Anyway?
28.How to Dance the Makossa
29.Pimentos
30.The Farewell Dance
31.The Healer
