''A Dolorosa Raiz do Micondó'' is a book of poetry written by the Santomean poet,

Conceição Lima Maria da Conceição de Deus Lima (born December 8, 1961), is a São Tomé and Príncipe, Santomean poet. Biography Lima was born on December 8, 1961 in Santana, São Tomé and Príncipe, Santana, São Tomé Island, São Tomé, one of two islands ...

. It contains twenty-seven poems and was published in 2006 by the Portuguese publisher Editorial Caminho of Lisbon. Lima's poetry is thematic in its

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

composition. Her words are personal, intimate and, at times, painful as they evoke family ties and the suffering of her

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

(and other São Toméans) who were brought against their will to the archipelago from mainland

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and later sent to other countries as slaves. This book is also a testimony to the violence that

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

has experienced throughout the centuries with poems such as "1953", "Jovani", and "Ignomínia".

"Canto Obscuro às Raízes"

The first poem in this book is entitled "Canto Obscuro às Raízes" (Hymn to Obscure Roots), in which the poet inquires about the identity of her last African grandfather. Conceição Lima embarks on a lyrical journey in search of her roots and compares her ordeal/search to that of the American writer,

Alex Haley Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and ...

, who traced his grandfather

Kunta Kinte Kunta Kinte ( ) is the main character from the 1976 novel '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family'' by American author Alex Haley. Kunta Kinte was based on family oral tradition accounts of one of Haley's ancestors, a Gambian man who was born ...

to the town of

Juffure Jufureh (also spelled Juffureh or Juffure) is a town in the Gambia, 30 kilometres inland on the north bank of the River Gambia in the North Bank Division near Kunta Kinteh Island. The town is home to a museum and Fort Jillifree. Jufureh is kno ...

from where, in the 18th century, he was taken as a slave. This story became the inspiration for the novel ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

'', which Haley wrote later in life. Although Lima's poetry is about her land and her roots (local poetry), it is also universal as evidenced by this parallel of events in

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in regards to the painful history of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. The poem ends with the following verses: "Eu, a peregrina que não encontrou o caminho para Juffure / Eu, a nómada que regressará sempre a Juffure" (I, the pilgrim who did not find the road to Juffure / I, the nomad who will always return to Juffure). These verses attest to the revelation that Lima has not found her roots after all; a dilemma that plagues not only the poet and her Santomean compatriots, but all those whose ancestors were enslaved.

"São João da Vargem"

"São João da Vargem" is another poem about familial history but it has a lighter, more innocent tone than the previous poem. It is divided into four parts. The first, with the title "O Anel das Folhas" (The Ring of Leaves), is about her happy childhood growing up on her native island of

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álv ...

, surrounded by its enchanting nature. These are some of its verses: "E eu brincava, eu corria, eu tinha o anel, / o mundo era meu" (I used to play, run, I had the ring / the world was mine). The second part of this poem is called "A Sombra do Quintal" (The Shadow of the Backyard), in which Conceição Lima confesses that in those days of innocence she was not aware of the suffering of others around her: "Eu rodopiava e o mundo girava / girava o terreiro, o kimi era alto / e no tronco eu não via não via não via / o tronco rasgado dos serviçais." "As Vozes" (The Voices), the third part of the poem, evokes remembrances of family members: aunts, cousins, relatives of her mother and even some neighbors. "A voz do meu pai punha caras concretas / naquelas caras que eram altas, eram difusas / e olhavam p'ra longe, não para mim." These verses are part of the last section of the poem, "Os Olhos dos Retratos" (The Eyes in the Photographs). It is about the family pictures that she finds in the attic of people she does not know, but through her father's storytelling she learns about these family members. Storytelling is a rich African tradition and the foundation of the continent's

oral literature Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used v ...

, in addition to being strongly present in written literary works such as Lima's.

"Ignomínia"

"Ignomínia" (Ignominy) is a short but powerful poem that has a tragic and profound tone. It speaks of the atrocities committed against the innocent people of

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

while the rest of the world remained silent and took no action to protect them. It severely criticizes the governments of the industrialized nations for allowing the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

to take place in

. The poem ends with this disturbing verse: "Ruanda ainda conta os crânios dos seus filhos" (Rwanda still counts the skulls of her children). Through the poems in her ''A Dolorosa Raiz do Micondó'', Conceição Lima ties her autobiographic expression to a commentary on the history of her nation. She lends her lyric voice to those who were unable to express their suffering and those who had no voice in the society.

References

*Lima, Conceição (2006). ''A Dolorosa Raiz do Micondó'', Lisboa, Editorial Caminho. {{DEFAULTSORT:A Dolorosa Raiz do Micondo Culture of São Tomé and Príncipe Poetry collections 2006 books