Through the Eye of the Needle

About the Book

The reader may ask, “How did you get here or through?” The tragic nature of the event on which this memoir sprang in 1951, the multiple relocations from my birth village to the second and third villages, the weeks and months spent in boarding schools in Bas-Congo from age five to twenty, while spending vacation days in villages and towns, all sharpened my sense of observation and reflection. Therefore, my brain got me here and through. Moreover, this book documents my life which, like a cotton thread made of tiny pieces of fiber, exceptionally passes through the eye of the needle. The nineteen chapters elaborate on and share certain reasons and ways of acting: walking on the sides of family members or kins who believed in conforming to and respecting ancestral and clanic traditions; working with teachers in Kikongo, my first language, French, my almost first language, and later, English, my third language, during pre- and post-Congolese independence; putting in ninety-five percent of academic perspiration and relying on five percent of inspiration; adapting to life circumstances, and last but not least, depending on Christian beliefs and sense of cooperation.

About the Author

The author of this memoir, Yeno M Matuka, Ph.D., has worked as assistant professor of English at Ball State University since 1991 after graduating from this university’s English and applied linguistics program. He completed a second MA (’87); his first one is from Reading University in England, UK (‘78). He has a diploma in English Studies from Ealing Technical College, London, England (’77); started teaching college English after BA in English and applied pedagogy (’75) at Teachers College/IPN, Kinshasa, Congo (75-76; 78-85); has taught applied, general and English linguistics, and Freshman Writing 1 and 2; his dissertation, “The Pragmatics of Palavering in Kikongo” (1991), is the source of a chapter, “The Palaver: A System of Conflict Management” in Pan-Africanism and Cross-Cultural Understanding: A Reader (1993); recent years’ publications included five poems: “The Grader’s Crowd,” “Interrogating Happiness,“ “Homage to Courage,” “Reflection on Common Sense“ and “A Letter to Humankind” in four Anthologies edited by Ely; Franz; Lavender Aurora; and Noble House; and four of them recorded on Sounds of Poetry CD’s; has taught a Diversity Associates Research and Writing course, a Freshman course, product of his presentation at the BSU 2009 Diversity Symposium; has worked on Freshman Connections programs since inception; works as a temporary academic adviser in Summer; is interested in writing and error analysis, grammar and usage, language and culture, cross-cultural understanding, Peace Studies, and Faculty Mentorship for the Disabled.