LITERARISCHE WELTEN

BOOK NOTES – ON GENDER PRONOUNS by Gili Ben-Zvi

here is talk of a new pronoun revolution, a linguistic adjustment to changing times or rather a reflection of cultural shifts in subjectivity. Pronouns have always been a touchy subject. The finicky German duality of “Sie” “Du” is a great example for how selecting a simple pronoun may lead, Akwaeke Emezi’s critically acclaimed debut novel. Their choice of “we” as a first person narrator, piqued my interest. It’s not often that one has the opportunity to read a first person storyteller that is not an “I”, especially not in fiction. Though this first impression is not what I was left with after I finished . The book left me with an admiration for Emezi’s storytelling skills, the ability to summon diverse elements and shape them into a compelling narrative. Emezi draws from a wide range of sources, from Afro-Indigenous spirituality and the multifaceted rationalizations of immigration, through the different faces of gender and the relation of other/self as well as relationships and emotions, which are never simple. Yet the story is allowed to breath. Which is what makes it a great book. As simple as that.