DEBORAH STEINMAIR has read a disturbing book about people’s cruelty to people, about displaced people who don’t manage to find a foothold anywhere, and about the stories that help us survive.
OUR planet and its inhabitants suffer from a multitude of diseases. You don't even have to read books to become aware of this fact. But sometimes, no, often, I read a book that sheds new light on the causes and effects of our universal trauma. Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin is such a book.
Have you heard of intergenerational trauma? Grief, mourning and trauma reflected in people's DNA over generations – the children of Holocaust survivors never went through what their parents had to go through, but they inherited anxiety and depression. Plus, they were raised by damaged people. Even their children are not unharmed. Yes, there is such a thing as cellular memory.
It is therefore rather frivolous to say, for example, to a black young person in South Africa: You are born free. You were in the most expensive schools. BEE is on your side. You are no longer disadvantaged. For that human being was shaped in part by the anger, disappointment, humiliation, and trauma of his ancestors. Who knows how long it will take to dilute that genetic cocktail?..
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THE BOAT PEOPLE
We are all refugees in a strange land
DEBORAH STEINMAIR has read a disturbing book about people’s cruelty to people, about displaced people who don’t manage to find a foothold anywhere, and about the stories that help us survive.
Deel
OUR planet and its inhabitants suffer from a multitude of diseases. You don't even have to read books to become aware of this fact. But sometimes, no, often, I read a book that sheds new light on the causes and effects of our universal trauma. Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin is such a book.
Have you heard of intergenerational trauma? Grief, mourning and trauma reflected in people's DNA over generations – the children of Holocaust survivors never went through what their parents had to go through, but they inherited anxiety and depression. Plus, they were raised by damaged people. Even their children are not unharmed. Yes, there is such a thing as cellular memory.
It is therefore rather frivolous to say, for example, to a black young person in South Africa: You are born free. You were in the most expensive schools. BEE is on your side. You are no longer disadvantaged. For that human being was shaped in part by the anger, disappointment, humiliation, and trauma of his ancestors. Who knows how long it will take to dilute that genetic cocktail?..
Registreer gratis om hierdie artikel te lees.
Hallo! Welkom by Vrye Weekblad. Ons inhoud is nou in Afrikaans én Engels beskikbaar.
Al wat jy hoef te doen om gratis te begin lees, is om met jou e-pos te registreer en ’n wagwoord te skep.
Om dit te doen, kliek eenvoudig op “REGISTREER”.
Reeds geregistreer? Kliek op “MELD AAN” om voort te gaan.
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Volgende artikelDeborah Steinmair
BoekeredakteurDeborah Steinmair is ’n bekroonde skrywer en onversadigbare leser. Sy was al twee keer die Rapport-kykNET-boekresensent van die jaar.