Coko: Reminiscences of Joseph Scotch Coko, a Grahamstown Resident

(Grahamstown: Institute for Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University, 1973) 0949980242. 233 x 158 mm; card wrappers; pp. xviii + (iv) + 191 + (i); some photographs and facsimiles. Sunned on spine, else near-fine. "Anyone interested in biographical material by Africans in South Africa is well aware of its virtual non-existence. There are a handful of books which treat the lives of wellknown personalities ... Even rarer are publications by individuals who have lived their lives in virtual anonymity. The result is a tremendous void in that we have no retrospective view of how a common man has viewed his life, acquaintances and - of particular significance in South Africa - the impact on him of a racialist society. I believe these reminiscences by Joseph Coko are a positive contribution to filling this void. ... During his youth at the turn of the century, he developed close relationships with the Xhosa-speaking men who worked with his father, and he took every opportunity to enquire into the traditions of his own people, the amaXhosa. He was fascinated by the stories of his ancestors, their language, history, customs and superstitions. This particular interest, along with his facility in English, gave him a reputation amongst both Africans and Europeans as a person who could valuably criticize their efforts when they wrote or translated from each other's languages." .