ISSUE NUMBER TWO* 1 9 9 7- sections are 'Go Down, Moses, Way Down in Egypt's Land, 1619-1808' edited by Sondra O'Neale; 'Tell Ole Pharoah, Let my people go, 1808-1865' edited by Patricia Liggins Hill; 'No More Shall They in Bondage Toil 1865-1915' edited by Trudier Harris; 'Bound No 'th Blues, 1915-1945' edited by Baxter Miller and Liggins Hill; 'Win the War Blues, 1945-1960'edited by Hill, Bernard Bell and Horace Porter; and 'Cross Road Blues, 1960 to the Present' edited by William J. Harris. Presenting over 500 selections from the works of over 150 writers with broad intro- ductions, author headnotes and selected bib- liographies, containing over thirty short sto- ries and nine full-length works ranging from Douglass's slave narrative to Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone and Earnest Gaine's 'Three Men', the anthology negotiates the history, sociology and gender discourse of African American literary tradi- tion. In its revisionist course, the anthology situates itself, more than, the NA, as a gen- der-conscious text by representing the works of over seventy women 'many of whom have been critically misunderstood or summarily dismissed from existing anthologies' (xxxv). Anna Deavere Smith and Kamaria Muntu are introduced here as two notable and emergent black female authors. Also, there is a promi- nent addition of gay consciousness to black writing, after such earlier efforts of Samuel Delany, George Wolfe, Billi Gordon and oth- ers, in the essay of Charles Nero - 'Toward a Black Gay Aesthetic'and in the works (poetry and fiction) of Essex Hemphill (earlier noted in the NA). As part of its strategy of presentation, the RA imbeds in each of its six sections a series of critical debates, as generated by leading intellectual figures of African American litera- ture, which represent the consciousness of each of the literary periods. For instance, the editors of parts Four and Five of the Anthol- ogy draw on the literary crossroad of the theory of black art, during the Harlem Renaissance and later in the 60s, as generated between Alain Locke and W.E.B. DuBois and between Hugh M. Gloster and Nick Aaron Ford. Part Six contains the more recent debate on the nature of black art between Joyce Ann Joyce, the black aesthetician, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Houston Baker Jr., the proponents of black post-structuralism. Apart from the practical attempt of the edi- tors of RA to initiate a concrete re-tracing of memory through art, a reaching or journey- ing back to primordial creativity of the Afri- can person of imagination in America, both Glniira Bitkt Supplement 14 anthologies have as supplements respective au- dio compact discs which afford the 'reader' the lisible possibility of de lire et de compredre, the dual advantage of reading and listening to the text. Thus, that opportunity given the reader/ critic to encounter the text both as written and as oral basically establishes the verbal tonations and the rhetorical backgronds of the African American literary work; the essence, the phonocentric actuality of the written work becomes performed rather than imagined. The audio CD to NA, edited by Robert G. O'Meally (containing twenty-one tracks) and the CD to RA, produced by Robert H. Catalioti (containing twenty-six tracks) are a pragmatic journeying into history through sounds whereby the cadences of black experience are recorded by testamental voices of African American legends, musicians, singers, orators, poets and preachers. Notable in both CDs are texts like 'Go Down, Moses', 'John Henry', 'Blackwater Blues' and the original 'I Have a Dream'by Martin Luther King Jr. Other plati- num acts of performance include 'Steal Away to Jesus', 'Take My Hand Precious Lord', Tfou May Go But This Will Bring You Back' and Malcolm X's 'The Ballot or the Bullet' (all from the NA CD); 'Sunyetta', 'Bars Fight', 'The Meaning of July 4 for the Negro', 'If We Must Die', 'For My People', 'Nikki-Rosa' and 'Dope' (all from the RA CD). Finally, I should add that these anthologies have done more persuasively for African Ameri- can literature what The Oxford Anthology of English Literature I & II and the Concise An- thology of American Literature have estab- lished for the general and specific reception of their respective literary traditions in this cen- tury. •Raji-Oyelade, a poet, teaches literature at the University of Ibadan Walking Still M.Z. Malaba Charles Mungoshi, WALKING STILL, Baobab Books, Harare, 1997, 167pp.CHARLES Mungoshi is Zimbabwe's leading writer and his latest book Walking Still is a powerful collection of short stories. Mungoshi's earlier works, Coming of the Dry Season and Some Kind of Wounds, demonstrated his masterly command of the short story and his deep in- sight into the psychological profiles of his char- acters. These qualities have, once again, been amply demonstrated in Walking Still. Mungoshi is a keen observer and this lat- est work foregrounds the socio-economic devel- American wife, Agatha, successfully promotes her husband's work locally and internationally. Snobbish people then rush to buy Gwizo's paint- ings because of his new social status, rather than out of a genuine appreciation of his work. This story raises the issue of race relations in Zimbabwe, as does 'The Slave Trade ' In 'The Empty House', mixed marriages are regarded sceptically by many blacks, either because of racial prejudice, or on the grounds of cultural differences. 'The Slave Trade' satirises the hy- pocrisy of some 'third world groupies' who pro- fess liberal values, but still patronise blacks. But, like Achebe, Mungoshi does not naively portray all blacks as innocent - the protago- nist, Marara, is a simpleton who is so caught up in himself that he fails to read the mood of both his wife and his hosts at the dinner party, as he downs glass after glass of Scotch. Mungoshi stresses the fact that, for any rela- tionship to succeed, a spirit of give and take must be fostered by both parties. It is signifi- cant that in the two stories dealing with race relations, the interaction is between black Zim- babweans and foreigners, rather than between black and white Zimbabweans. This begs the question of how successful the post-indepen- dence policy of reconciliation has been. Walking Still demonstrates that Mungoshi has not lost his skill, after a lengthy break from writing fiction - he has devoted much time, in recent years, to writing and acting in plays. One of his greatest strengths is psychological realism: his ability to enter into the minds of his characters, irrespective of age or gender. The story 'Did You have to Go that Far?'illus- trates his sure grasp of child psychology and his command of the child's eye narrative view- point. Nevertheless, I believe that this story is too long - it could have been trimmed from 38 pages without jeopardising either the develop- ment of the plot or the characterisation. Walking Still confirms Charles Mungoshi's position as Zimbabwe's most accomplished writer. His craftsmanship, his deft use of un- derstatement, his profound understanding of people, the broad range of his sympathy, his tremendous sense of humour and his detailed knowledge of his society have established him as one of the most distinguished writers in the world, today. •Malaba teaches English at the University of Zimbabwe where he specialises in Southern African Literatures. He was until recently the administrator of the Commonwealth Writers prize ISSUE NUMBER TWO* 1997 opments that have occurred in Zimbabwe since independence. One of the finest stories is the first, entitled 'The Hare' which deals very movingly with the disintegration of Nhongo's world, after he has been retrenched and his wife assumes the role of the breadwinner. A traditionalist at heart, Nhongo was relieved when his wife stopped looking for a job, after her secretarial studies, because she couldn't stand the managers who 'look at my breasts all the time they are interviewing me.' Sara had been a very promising pupil at secondary school, before she fell pregnant and had to leave. A dutiful housewife, she comes into her own when she starts selling second-hand clothes at the market, her business thrives and her network of friends grows. Nhongo feels that she is slipping away from him, he cannot come to terms with the fact that she is not only no longer dependent on him, but he depends on her, albeit that she still seeks his permis- sion, before buying her mother clothes. Not- withstanding the fact that he feels her behaviour is 'innocent', Nhongo suspects that Sara is having affairs during her shopping trips to South Africa, because his friends (and, by extention, many Zimbabwean men) refuse to believe that women can have Platonic rela- tionships with other men. Mungoshi skilfully dramatises Nhongo's paranoia and the man- ner in which his immaturity leads to the dis- integration of his family, as he ends up hav- ing an affair with the maid, in a pathetic at- tempt to assert his ego. The tragic impact of this on the children is brought out in the older girl's moving defence of her absent mother. The story arose from the negative media coverage of the behaviour of some women who went to Botswana and South Africa on shopping trips. The role of women in Zimbabwean society is a major theme in Mungoshi's writing. He shows great sensitivity towards women who strive to create space for themselves despite the constraints of traditional beliefs and ex- pectations. In the excellent story, 'Sacrifice', the traditional Shona custom of handing over a virgin to atone for the murder of an inno- cent victim is>explored. Mungoshi also raised this subject in his highly acclaimed novel, Waiting for the Rain, which was published in 1975. The female characters in his works are often far more admirable than the males, who are either weak, unprincipled or pathetic, as seen in the stories 'Of Lovers and Wives', 'The Little Wooden Hut in the Forest' and 'The Singer at the Wedding.' In 'The Empty House', Mungoshi satirises the ambivalent attitude towards art and art- ists in Zimbabwe. Gwizo Maneto's bohemian lifestyle drives his father to despair. The lat- ter revises his opinion of the son after Gwizo's Glendori Books Supplement 15