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A Cautionary Tale: The Whale Caller

A Cautionary Tale: The Whale Caller © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/156853007X217221 Society and Animals 15 (2007) 299-307 www.brill.nl/soan Book Reviews A Cautionary Tale: Th e Whale Caller , by Zakes Mda. New York: Picador, 2006. ISBN-10: 0312425872, $14.00 Zakes Mda’s Th e Whale Caller represents a major shift from post-apartheid literature. While the novel acknowledges aspects of national transformation it foregrounds the interactions and interconnections between human culture and the material environment. Th e Whale Caller represents a relationship of loving biosociality between a human and a whale but is, ultimately, a cautionary tale. Set in contemporary Hermanus, a seaside resort near Cape Town, South Africa, the eponymous protagonist is a wise fool who engages musically with Sharisha, a southern right whale. He is never named beyond his vocation of calling whales with his kelp horn; his pursuit has elements of the magical as he communicates passionately with the largest mam- mal on the planet. But the narrative does not have nature or an animal as an active healing force, an essential element of folktales. Nor is the whale caller an heroic figure who tri- umphs over evil through his own courage. He is a flawed character, semi-nomadic and socially marginalized—his http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Society & Animals Brill

A Cautionary Tale: The Whale Caller

Society & Animals , Volume 15 (3): 299 – Jan 1, 2007

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2007 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1063-1119
eISSN
1568-5306
DOI
10.1163/156853007X217221
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/156853007X217221 Society and Animals 15 (2007) 299-307 www.brill.nl/soan Book Reviews A Cautionary Tale: Th e Whale Caller , by Zakes Mda. New York: Picador, 2006. ISBN-10: 0312425872, $14.00 Zakes Mda’s Th e Whale Caller represents a major shift from post-apartheid literature. While the novel acknowledges aspects of national transformation it foregrounds the interactions and interconnections between human culture and the material environment. Th e Whale Caller represents a relationship of loving biosociality between a human and a whale but is, ultimately, a cautionary tale. Set in contemporary Hermanus, a seaside resort near Cape Town, South Africa, the eponymous protagonist is a wise fool who engages musically with Sharisha, a southern right whale. He is never named beyond his vocation of calling whales with his kelp horn; his pursuit has elements of the magical as he communicates passionately with the largest mam- mal on the planet. But the narrative does not have nature or an animal as an active healing force, an essential element of folktales. Nor is the whale caller an heroic figure who tri- umphs over evil through his own courage. He is a flawed character, semi-nomadic and socially marginalized—his

Journal

Society & AnimalsBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2007

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