Identity
A search for identity is at the heart of Fish Notes and Star Songs.
When a body is found in a cave, Fish discovers identity comes not just through a name, but from something far more complex that involves being part of a family, as well as being part of a group. Touching on a sense of isolation and alienation, the book captures the longing for transformation that a journey brings, and the human fragility that is part of any change. The story is about both the inward journey of Fish, Jonah, Rebecca and Sweet as well as the physical journey as they encounter the magic of a special cave and discover their true identities.
The spark for Fish Notes and Star Songs came from a real story about identity loss. Sarah Baartman, a Griqua or Khoi person, born in 1789 in South Africa, was working as a servant when she was persuaded by an English doctor to return with him to England so he could make money by displaying her to curious people. She was paraded at parties and museums and circuses, often in a cage, and was later put on show in Paris. She was robbed not only of her real Khoi name, but also of her identity as a human being. When she died in 1816, aged 27, she was ‘owned’ by an animal trainer. After her death, a plaster cast was made of her body, her organs were removed for display, and her skeleton was hung in a museum in Paris as a symbol of curiosity for almost 200 years.
The French Government eventually passed a law in 2002 which allowed her remains to be returned to her people and her homeland. Ironically, Sarah Baartman was born in 1789, the same year as the French Revolution which inspired the Declaration of the Rights of Man. But her right to be treated with dignity was finally only given back to her, more than 200 years later. The return of her remains was a rallying-point for the Griqua people. They saw the issue of keeping her skeleton on display, as a symbol of the loss of identity suffered by both Khoi and San people under white colonialism in South Africa.
'Her delicate skeleton was lifted from the stand on which it had hung for longer than anyone could remember. The leg and arm bones made hollow, musical sounds as they gently knocked against each other. Like bamboo wind chimes in a breeze. For a moment she seemed to be dancing. Her legs moving, her arms lifting and her body swaying to some strange music only she could hear.'
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