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The Voice of Pigmies

The Voice of Pigmies MARIE–T HÉRÈS E TOYI ———— Ô AM UGLY. That is what everybody tells me. Therefore it must be true. I learnt that the majority is never wrong. They say that I am ugly be- cause I am a pigmy, a Twa. Simply because of that. To be a pigmy in Burundi means to be ugly. And stupid. And childish. And, of course, outcast. I don’t understand what those Burundians mean by beauty. In my family, I am called Doggy-Doggy, precisely because of my beauty. Because of my face’s re- semblance to a puppy’s. That means beauty, in pigmies’ appreciation of things. And to those Burundians, that means the ugliest among the ugliest. They say that the most beautiful person has eyes which resemble a cow’s. Reddish and big. Tufya!!! I bet that human beings who see beauty in such eyes need to consult an eye specialist! I swear. Anyway, that is for them. When you are a pigmy, even when your eyes are big and reddish and very clean, you must be ugly. If you are a pigmy, beauty cannot be one of your attributes. That is a common belief among Burundians. Because of that, me, Doggy-Doggy, a short http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Matatu Brill

The Voice of Pigmies

TOYI, MARIE–THÉRÈSE
Matatu , Volume 47 (1): 10 – Aug 22, 2016
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0932-9714
eISSN
1875-7421
DOI
10.1163/18757421-90000407
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

MARIE–T HÉRÈS E TOYI ———— Ô AM UGLY. That is what everybody tells me. Therefore it must be true. I learnt that the majority is never wrong. They say that I am ugly be- cause I am a pigmy, a Twa. Simply because of that. To be a pigmy in Burundi means to be ugly. And stupid. And childish. And, of course, outcast. I don’t understand what those Burundians mean by beauty. In my family, I am called Doggy-Doggy, precisely because of my beauty. Because of my face’s re- semblance to a puppy’s. That means beauty, in pigmies’ appreciation of things. And to those Burundians, that means the ugliest among the ugliest. They say that the most beautiful person has eyes which resemble a cow’s. Reddish and big. Tufya!!! I bet that human beings who see beauty in such eyes need to consult an eye specialist! I swear. Anyway, that is for them. When you are a pigmy, even when your eyes are big and reddish and very clean, you must be ugly. If you are a pigmy, beauty cannot be one of your attributes. That is a common belief among Burundians. Because of that, me, Doggy-Doggy, a short

Journal

Matatu – Brill

Published: Aug 22, 2016

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