treason”.^49 Of course, whether for ill or for good, but especially for ill, Banda’s autocracy
has been a major inspiration for Mapanje’s creativity. This is why “Rested among Fellow
Hyenas, Finally”, is important in what is considered the first part of “New Poems”. It is a
kind of retrospective look at a long, unending era of autocracy gone smash by the
terminal hand of death. Banda may have branded some of his perceived enemies
“hyenas” and “rebels” in order to justify their elimination through state machinery. He
has also, ironically, joined these hyenas and rebels that have gone before him, pointing
ultimately to the futility and transience of power.
Other poems in this thematic section extend the exile’s transnational concern on the
original home front. But beyond the home front, an equal measure of concern and
involvement can be perceived. This is to the extent that the perception of exile is no
longer necessarily that of a passive observer as one finds in the days Of Chameleons and
Gods. Indeed, his sense of consciousness regarding the politics of inclusion is as vigilant
as that of the natives of the host nations. So while he mediates in matters concerning his
country of origin, he also mediates where necessary in the politics and overall social
affairs of the host country. The pattern of identity is one that justifies the contention that
“in their daily activities transmigrants connect nation-states and then live in a world
shaped by the interconnections that they themselves have forged” (Linda Basch et al
1995: 8). The idea of the interconnections in which transnationals have located
themselves goes to show how ambiguous their sense of belonging can be. Anxious
always to affirm their presence across spaces, the contradiction that emerges reads like:
“the nostalgia for homeland, the affirmation of an original identity, and the remonstrative,
often guilty, wish for a more complete acceptance by the host country” (Albert Memmi
2006: 86). Yet the exile’s sense of belonging in the transnational scheme of things cannot
be gainsaid, this is despite the fact that his status is a reflection on the “agonizing tensions
between two histories” (R. Radhakrishnan 2003: 324). This is why in “Fleeting Child of
the 3-Day Week”, one encounters a bold affirmation of belonging and the right to
comment on social disruptions resulting from failure of the social system. Apparently
49
Mapanje and others have testified that Cecelia Kadzamira, Banda’s mistress together with other members
of her family were more responsible for cooking up stories that resulted in the arrest, torture and death of
so many people in Malawi during the Banda years; Banda’s role was merely to accent to the persecution.