| Peer-Reviewed

Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions: A Quest into the Time-honoured Mindsets About Feminineness Scuffle in the Context of Colonization and African Patriarchy

Received: 30 August 2016    Accepted: 7 November 2016    Published: 17 December 2016
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to cast light on the ideology expressed within the lines of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous conditions. The author in her trial to reflect upon the Zimbabwean community tends implicitly to invite the reader to consider the social status and by virtue the social sufferings accorded to the African woman in a society that decides to minimize the womanist presence to a mere asset exploited by men. Some of Dangarembga’s concerns in the novel touch upon gender, the African social dogmata, the roles stipulated to women by their macho counterparts and the taken for granted responsibilities of men, and their identities and personal ambitions apart from their stated roles. The paper launches a claim on gender and its upshot on marginalizing women and strengthening the knot of racism. Then, it tackles gender roles and the respective sociocultural dictations of rights and duties of African men and women. Under the same heading, gender identities and the internal and external conflicts of the characters throughout the way of self-realization are attached due heed. The paper tends to confer a virtual view to the intentions of the novel in making explicit the harrowing effect of the chauvinist community on squashing the feminine identity. Considerations of the colonial influence on the original African identity are also thought through. The paper aspires in the meantime to consider interdisciplinary issues by incorporating the field and theoretical views vis-à-vis the points mulled over in the work.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 4, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13
Page(s) 104-112
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

African Culture, Ideology, Gender, Identity, Social Role, Feminism

References
[1] Adas, M. (ed.). (2001). Agricultural and pastoral societies in ancient and classical history. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
[2] Alder, P. J., & Pouwels, R. L. (2015). World civilizations (7th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.
[3] Ansari, S., & Martin, V. (eds.). (2014). Women, religion and culture in Iran. New York: Routledge.
[4] Arndt, S. (1998). Continuation and writing back: Igbo women writers and Ifo, in Klooss, W. (ed.), Across the lines: Intertextuality and transcultural communication in the new literatures in English (pp. 103-128). Amsterdam: Rodopi B. V.
[5] Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Encyclopedia of social psychology. California: Sage Publications.
[6] Beechey, V. (1979). On patriarchy. Feminist Review, 3, 66-82.
[7] Brooks, R., McCormack, M., & Bhopal, K. (eds.). (2013). Contemporary debates in the sociology of education. UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
[8] Chen, P., & Dilley, W. C. (eds.). (2002). Feminism/femininity in Chinese literature. New York: Rodopi B. V.
[9] Dangarembga, T. (1988). Nervous conditions. London: Women’s Press.
[10] DeWall, C. N. (ed.). (2013). The Oxford handbook of social exclusion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[11] Dugbazah, J. (2012). Gender, livelihoods and migration in Africa. Indiana: Xlibris Corporation.
[12] Eagleton, M. (ed.). Feminist Literary theory: A reader (3rd ed.). USA: Wiley Blackwell.
[13] Eliot, T. S. (2014). Notes towards the definition of culture. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
[14] Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth. New York: Grove Press.
[15] Habets, M., & Wood, B. (ed.). (2011). Reconsidering gender: Evangelical perspectives. Oregon: Pickwick Publications.
[16] Hussein, J. W. (2005). The social and ethno-cultural construction of masculinity and femininity in African proverbs. African Study Monographs, 26(2):59-87.
[17] Kimmel, M. S., & Arronson, A. (2004). Men and masculinities: A social, cultural, and historical encyclopedia. Colorado: A B S CLIO.
[18] Kloppenborg, R., & Hanegraaff, W. J. (ed.). (1995). Female stereotypes in religious traditions. Leiden: E. J BRILL.
[19] Lips, M. H. (2016). A new psychology of women: Gender, culture and ethnicity (4th ed.). Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.
[20] Maynne, A. J. (1999). From politics past to politics future: An integrated analysis of current and emergent paradigms. London: Praeger.
[21] Mies, M. (1998). Patriarchy and accumulation on a world scale: Women in the international division of labour. New York: Zed Books Ltd.
[22] Moghadam, V. M. (ed.). (2007). From patriarchy to empowerment: Women’s participation, movements, and rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. New York: Syracuse University Press.
[23] Mutua, M. (ed.). (2009). Human rights NGOs in east Africa: Political and normative tensions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
[24] Mwenda, K. K. & Muuka, G. N. (eds.). (2009). The challenges of change in Africa’s higher education in the 21st century. New York: Cambridge Press.
[25] Nnaemeka, O. (2005). Mapping African Feminism, in Corwall, A. (ed.), Readings in gender in Africa (pp. 30-40). UK: The international African Institute.
[26] Raftopoulous, B. & Mlambo, A. (eds.). (2009). Becoming Zimbabwe: A history from pre-colonial period to 2008. South Africa: Weaver Press.
[27] Renée, L., & Holland, A. (eds.). (2005). Simone de Beauvoir’s fiction: Women and language. New York : PETER LANG.
[28] Roscoe, A. (2008). The Columbia guide to central African literature in English since 1945. New York: Columbia University Press.
[29] Sertel, Y. G. (2014). Female outcasts: Essays on American novel. Bloomington: AuthorHouse Publishing Company.
[30] Shefer, T., Boonzaier, F., & Kiguwa, P. (eds.). (2006). The gender of psychology. Cape Town: UCT Press.
[31] Swatos, W. H. & Kivisto, P. (eds.). (1998). Encyclopedia of religion and society. UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ghania Ouahmiche, Lemya Boughouas. (2016). Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions: A Quest into the Time-honoured Mindsets About Feminineness Scuffle in the Context of Colonization and African Patriarchy. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 4(6), 104-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Ghania Ouahmiche; Lemya Boughouas. Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions: A Quest into the Time-honoured Mindsets About Feminineness Scuffle in the Context of Colonization and African Patriarchy. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2016, 4(6), 104-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Ghania Ouahmiche, Lemya Boughouas. Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions: A Quest into the Time-honoured Mindsets About Feminineness Scuffle in the Context of Colonization and African Patriarchy. Int J Lit Arts. 2016;4(6):104-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13,
      author = {Ghania Ouahmiche and Lemya Boughouas},
      title = {Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions: A Quest into the Time-honoured Mindsets About Feminineness Scuffle in the Context of Colonization and African Patriarchy},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {104-112},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20160406.13},
      abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to cast light on the ideology expressed within the lines of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous conditions. The author in her trial to reflect upon the Zimbabwean community tends implicitly to invite the reader to consider the social status and by virtue the social sufferings accorded to the African woman in a society that decides to minimize the womanist presence to a mere asset exploited by men. Some of Dangarembga’s concerns in the novel touch upon gender, the African social dogmata, the roles stipulated to women by their macho counterparts and the taken for granted responsibilities of men, and their identities and personal ambitions apart from their stated roles. The paper launches a claim on gender and its upshot on marginalizing women and strengthening the knot of racism. Then, it tackles gender roles and the respective sociocultural dictations of rights and duties of African men and women. Under the same heading, gender identities and the internal and external conflicts of the characters throughout the way of self-realization are attached due heed. The paper tends to confer a virtual view to the intentions of the novel in making explicit the harrowing effect of the chauvinist community on squashing the feminine identity. Considerations of the colonial influence on the original African identity are also thought through. The paper aspires in the meantime to consider interdisciplinary issues by incorporating the field and theoretical views vis-à-vis the points mulled over in the work.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions: A Quest into the Time-honoured Mindsets About Feminineness Scuffle in the Context of Colonization and African Patriarchy
    AU  - Ghania Ouahmiche
    AU  - Lemya Boughouas
    Y1  - 2016/12/17
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13
    T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    SP  - 104
    EP  - 112
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-057X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20160406.13
    AB  - The purpose of this paper is to cast light on the ideology expressed within the lines of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous conditions. The author in her trial to reflect upon the Zimbabwean community tends implicitly to invite the reader to consider the social status and by virtue the social sufferings accorded to the African woman in a society that decides to minimize the womanist presence to a mere asset exploited by men. Some of Dangarembga’s concerns in the novel touch upon gender, the African social dogmata, the roles stipulated to women by their macho counterparts and the taken for granted responsibilities of men, and their identities and personal ambitions apart from their stated roles. The paper launches a claim on gender and its upshot on marginalizing women and strengthening the knot of racism. Then, it tackles gender roles and the respective sociocultural dictations of rights and duties of African men and women. Under the same heading, gender identities and the internal and external conflicts of the characters throughout the way of self-realization are attached due heed. The paper tends to confer a virtual view to the intentions of the novel in making explicit the harrowing effect of the chauvinist community on squashing the feminine identity. Considerations of the colonial influence on the original African identity are also thought through. The paper aspires in the meantime to consider interdisciplinary issues by incorporating the field and theoretical views vis-à-vis the points mulled over in the work.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Human Sciences and Islamic Civilization, University of Oran 1, Oran, Algeria

  • Department of Foreign Languages, University of Oran 2, Oran, Algeria

  • Sections