Outposts: Literary Landmarks & Events

Abstract

outposts LiteraryLandmarks& Events Bubanza, Burundi Withgratitudeto the Honorable Etienne Ndayishimiye, Evariste Ndikumana, and Claude Nikondeha. Editorial note:Towatch a video demonstration of the grass-oven firingof pots, and toviewadditional photos of traditional Batwa dances, visit theonlineversion of this Outpost on our website (www. worldliteraturetoday.com). To read moreof the/Xam poetry byDi?lkwain,see TheStarsSay "Tsau" (2004), ed. Antjie Krog. David Shook isfinishing his graduatethesisat theUniversity ofOxfordunderthesupervision of Jamie McKendrick. His work has appeared in PEN International Magazine, Poetry, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angelesbuttravels frequently through Africaand Latin America. He isa frequent contributor to World Literature Today. Composing less than 5 percent of Burundi's totalpopulation, theBatwa were itsorigi nal inhabitants, colonized and displaced since the turnof the first millennium by theHutus, and later by the Tutsis as well. Originally a for est-dwelling culture, theBatwa survive today as a landless people, their forcedmigrations across the region subject to thewhims of theBurundian gov ernment.The Batwa are related to other communi ties throughout theCongo, commonly referred to as Pygmies, a term theBatwa reject as derogatory. The community experiences routine tribaldiscrimi nation at all levels of society, especially within the educational system.Many were murdered indis criminately during the ethnic conflicts that have plagued the region, culrninatingmost recently in the 1990s. Their permanent exile from theirhome forests is a crucial influenceon their identityas a commu nity, and it is reflected in their art and literature. The Batwa continue to produce their traditional pottery, despite decreasing economic incentives to do so.With imported plastic replacing most of thepottery's domestic uses, most Twa potters earn well under a dollar per pot, which can take up to a week to produce. The coiled pots aremade from local clay, fired in grass-fed, open-air pits. These self-incineratingkilns harden the clay and temper it with a slight smokiness. Although nowritten Batwa literatureyet exists, theBatwa storyand song traditions thrive.Though seldom recognized, Batwa music and dance has deeply influenced Tutsi and especially Hutu tradi tions. "We like somuch todance. Itgives us peace/' says Evariste Ndikumana, one of a handful of Twa students to successfully complete postsecondary education. "We put on the leg-bells and play the ingoma drums, we wear special clothes and a cap with longhair, and we sing and dance." In Batwa culture, dance is considered less per formance than ritual. Characterized by rhythmic foot stomping, hopping, and shoulder swaying, the contemporary dance tradition is centuries old. It connects the Batwa to the forests fromwhich they'vebeen expelled. It is an expression of longing fora homeland no longer theirown. Their situation echoes thatof the /Xam bush men from South Africa, who were displaced to thepoint of theirdisappearance in the late 1870s. German philologist Wilhelm Bleek and his sister in-law Lucy Lloyd collected /Xam poetry and art, including thework ofDi?!kwain, who wrote of the homeland thatno longerbelonged tohim: theplace does not feel to me as theplace used to feel to me ... theplace feel strange to me The Batwa have chosen to continue to create and survive inexile; both their physical and cultural survival depends on theirresourceful responses to exile, and theyare succeeding. - David Shook ...