Congo Pilgrim

Let me throw out there the obvious - this book, in this form would probably not be welcome for publication now days. Judging it by today's standards it has not aged well, and many of the options and statements classify as casual racism.

The author is British, but lives in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and had spent much time in South Africa, and while she is dismissive of the apartheid regime, she does make some uncomfortable statements in this book. Published in 1952, this is not incredibly surprising - but it is uncomfortable in parts to read. I read enough historical travel to be able to separate my enjoyment of a book from the commonly held views of the time, but I acknowledge that not everyone can or wants to, so this is definitely not a book for everyone.

So this book describes three months of travel by the author, by herself, through Belgian Congo (Now DR Congo) and Ruanda-Urundi (now Rwanda and Burundi). It sits alone as the only book I have read which makes the Belgian colonial rule of Congo sound like a positive thing (especially for the natives), although after the debacle that was Leopold's Congo Free State which was best described a humanitarian disaster, the positives are possibly valid.

Severn's book is very positive in all facets of Belgian rule, from its political structures to its education and treatment of all peoples. The ‘evolues' (the newly developed middle-class of Europeanised Africans) in the cities was seen as an incredible benefit that the Belgian rule had achieved. It really does read like a sponsored propaganda story, but perhaps with the laid-on assistance with travel, accommodation and sight-seeing, this is the authors honest view of what she saw.

Rwanda and Burundi were much the same - administered by the Belgians as Ruanda-Urundi. There was again very positive reportage of all aspects of life, the very peaceful and friendly integration of the Hutu and Tutsi peoples, if not so much the Batwa (or pygmies, as they are known in less PC terminology). These people always seem to be the lowest in the pecking order, and they, unsurprisingly, come in for some of the most derogatory descriptions in this book. “...I found these pygmoids simply repellent, with their short legs, pot bellies and repulsive faces...”[P92]

Towards the end of the book we are given an entire chapter of description of the Tutsi beliefs around their cattle, which I gather turns in to a discussion about all customs and traditions, translation of important religious songs and other cultural history. For me it was complex and hardly readable. The author herself states it was told to her very quickly and she noted it down as best she could, and has made the best summary possible. This was a poor end to the book, and has probably effected my rating.

Overall, it is probably best summarised as having ‘not aged well'. It is therefore pretty hard for me to recommend. Perhaps those with a particular interest in these three counties in this era will perceive more benefit than I did. Perhaps a scholarly review.
This was a rare miss in the collection of ‘Travel Book Club' publications which I enjoy so much.

2 stars