New literary voice gives readers refreshing take on living with mixed identities
If you are a fan of young adult fantasy, and got a chance to pick up Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones, the first book of her series, I recommend you try Tanya Junghans’ Dreamer: The Activation of Makeba. Like the former, the book draws in a young, strong black character, with a storyline that looks into identity, myths, elements, and figures from different African cultures to add a twist to well-loved fantasy tropes.
Junhans’ debut novel follows a young girl’s journey to finding her place in a world of dreams, star travelling light beings and her struggle to honour her true identity as a child of mixed heritage.
Tanya Junghans is a South African writer now based in Switzerland. Her new book delivers a riveting genre-bending tale that draws from science fiction, magical realism and modern race theory to explore a coming-of-age tale of a girl named Thando.
The central character of Dreamer: The Activation of Makeba’s exploits were inspired by the author’s wish to help her daughter navigate her identity as a child of mixed heritage.
Thando Weber is a half South African and half Swiss nerdy girl who hopes to attend the best university in Switzerland like her father did. She is also the last surviving descendant of the Watchers of Realms, a powerful race of light beings who watch over the Milky Way galaxy.
Her mission is to find her lower self, and her higher self to complete her triad, so that she may bond with them and be the next Dreamer – an interdimensional traveller and protector of the Earth Realm.
Tortured by the transformation of moving from human to Dreamer, Thando hallucinates, sleepwalks, and suffers sleep deprivation, which destroys her dreams of tertiary education. On one mundane high school day, she loses consciousness and plunges into a coma, not from exhaustion but because she encounters her lower self and higher-self simultaneously.
Speaking about her book, Junghans said she penned it to pass forward her culture, folklore and mysticism to her child, just as her mother did for her.
“I decided to write the book in the manner in which I wrote it with my daughter as the catalyst. Although there are many other contributing factors (like the fact that I have these fantastical dreams at night and the fact that I am a creative person who enjoys writing), I wrote it in an entertaining way so that when she’s older, it can pique her interest in my culture,” said Junghans.
The book is one that will resonate with many people dealing with challenges around mixed-race.
Junghans was born of a Zulu father, iNkosi uDingizwe Jerome Ndlovu, and a Xhosa mother, Bongiwe Ella Radebe. The book was written as an ode to Junghans’s parents, her people and the ancestors who came before her. Junghans has appeared on various South African television productions including Generations, iNkaba and multiple adverts.
Tanya Junghans is a natural storyteller, whether it is through words, pictures, or music. Through her limitless creativity and childlike abandon, she strives to use all her talents to add beauty and colour to the world.
Sunday Independent