Paper-2 Module-30

Women Voices from Africa.

I. (A) Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Prof.SumitaParmar Allahabad University Paper Coordinator Prof. SumitaParmar Allahabad University Content Writer/Author (CW) Dr. Shamenaz Bano Associate Professor, Dept of English Ewing Christian College, Allahabad. Content Reviewer (CR) Prof. SumitaParmar Allahabad University Language Editor (LE) Prof. SumitaParmar Allahabad University

(B) Description of Module

Items Description of Module Subject Name Women’s Studies Paper Name Women and Literature Module Name/ Title Women Voices from Africa. Module ID Paper-2 Module-30 Pre-requisites The learner is expected to be aware of the socio- political condition of the African countries Objectives The objective of the unit is to throw highlight on some progressive women writers of Africa who by their will have establish their name globally. Keywords Progressive Women writers, apartheid, racism, socio-moral and political themes, personal narrative.

Women Voices from Africa

Introduction

Nadine Gordimer, Mariama Ba &Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Colonization brought both racism and exploitation to the African people. This caused prolonged suffering to them for long periods. But with the decline of imperialism in the decades of the

1950s and 1960s the gradual liberation of one country after another began to take place.Native populations began to assert themselves and do well in a variety of fields such as academics, sports, media, and cinema. Literature, which had so far been a field dominated mainly by white writers, saw the emergence of African Black writers, both men and women,who wrote about their lives, experiences, culture, history and the various myths associated with them. Many gained international recognition.

Since Africa is a continent comprising of many countries, it is especially rich in its variety of customs, traditions and languages. This richness is reflected in the diversity of forms, styles, genres of literature and varied languages that the writers use. Oral literature constitutes an important part of the corpus. In his book, Understanding Contemporary Africa, George Joseph says, “ Traditionally, Africans do not radically separate art from teaching. Rather than write or sing for beauty in itself, African writers, taking their cue from oral literature,use beauty to help communicate important truths and information to society. Indeed, an object is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and the communities it helps to build.

Several highly acclaimed writers have emerged from this continent, many of them winners of the

Nobel Prize. Wole Soyinka (Nigeria) became the first post-independence African writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. His works like, The Interpreters and Seasons of Anatomy

are widely read around the world. Algerian born Albert Camus received the award in 1957.

Chinua Achebe from Nigeria, author of Arrow of God, No Longer At Ease, Things Fall Apart, A

Man of the People and Anthills of the Savanaah is also a winner of the Nobel Prize as is J. M.

Coetze from South Africa author of Disgrace and who got it in 1991. Some other well-known writers of African literature are Nuruddin Faran from Somalia, author of From a Crooked Rib, Maps and Sweet and Sour Milk and Naquib Mahfouz, also a recipient of the prize and author of The Beginning and the End, Cairo Trilogy, Children of Gebelawi and Midaq Alley

There are certain themes which recur in the work of these writers.Ali A. Mazruihas categorized them and calls them the seven conflicts. They are the clash: between African’s past and present, between tradition and modernity, between indigenous and foreign, between individualism and community, between socialism and capitalism, between development and self-reliance and between Africanity and humanity.

Many writers have written on some other themes concerning social problems such as corruption, the economic disparities in the countries that have newly liberated and also on the upliftment of women, their rights and roles in the family and society. African writers have written in their indigenous languages as well as other languages of the world viz English, French, German,

Russians, Portuguese, Arabic, etc.They have published extensively not only in the African continent but also in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.

Although there are many big names in the world of African women’s writing, three eminent writers- Nadine Gordimer from South Africa, Mariama Ba from Senegal and &Chimamanda

Ngozi Adichie from Nigeria have been focused on in this module. They write about issues that are central to the lives of women, locating their works in broader social, cultural and political contexts. Framed in the individual lives, questions of racism, autonomy and freedom resonate.

The novels raise questions, interrogate and analyze. They are marked by fine craftsmanship and eloquent narrative expertise and are an indication of the richness of the corpus of writing done and being done by women from Africa today

Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer was born on 20th November 1923 in South Africa and lived till the ripe age of ninety one. She was a writer who was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991.

Alfred Nobel, who admired her greatly, referred to her as a woman “who through her magnificent epic writing hasbeen of very great benefit to humanity.” Intrepid in her choice of themes, she dealt with questions of ethics andmorality and wrote consistently against racism and apartheid which existedin South Africa. As a testimony to her anti-establishment writings, her novels, Burger’s Daughter and July’s People were banned by the then apartheid regime of South

Africa. She joined the African National Congress supporting Nelson Mandela in the days when the party was banned and frequently took part in the anti-apartheid movement against the

Government in South Africa at that time. She is credited with giving Mandela advice on his famous defense speech of 1964 at his trial when he was convicted for life. She also led campaigns for other issues like HIV/AIDS.

Gordimer’s works are internationally acclaimed because of their unique focus on political issues,especially on the moral and psychological tension associated with apartheid. Thus, racism

in South Africa is the pivotal point of her works,with the themes of love and politics forming part of the whole. Her stories are about ordinary people, who have to make difficult choices fraught with moral complexities.The portrayal of her characters is much nuanced as their ostensible social identities and the choices made by them seem to contradict each. Her novels include: The

Lying Days (1953), (1958), (1963), The Late

Bourgeois World (1966), A Guest of Honour (1970), (1974), Burger’s

Daughter (1979), July’s People (1981), (1987), My Son’sStory (1990), None to

Accompany Me (1994), The House Gun (1998), The Pickup (2001), Get aLife (2005) and No

Time Like the Present (2012).

Her debut novel, (1953) is a bildungsroman located in the Transvaal, a mining town near Johannesburg, South Africa which also happens to beSprings, her home town. It is a semi-autobiographical novel, depicting the story of a young politically conscious white woman,

Helen, living in a small town of South Africa which is under apartheid regime. The novel focuses on an area which Gordimer has explored throughout her life: the mingling of the personal and the political, and the way in which individual lives are formed due to the impact of external forces.

In Occasion for Loving (1963), she intertwines racism and love.The novel is a portrait ofinter- racial relationships which were fraught with danger as they were criminalized by the South

African government. It depicts the unsatisfactory marriage ofthe protagonist of the novel, Ann

Davis with ethno-musicologist, Boaz Davis and heraffair with Gideon Shibalo a black artist.

Her novel Burger’s Daughter (1979) is the story of a woman, Rosa Burger, the central characterand narrator, who is the daughter of a martyr of the South African anti-apartheid movement and a mother who is also associated with the anti-apartheid movement and

Communist ideology. Inspired by her Communist and anti-apartheid parents, she is inclined

towards political activism. In the novel, she is seen to be analyzing her relationship with her dead father. The novel was published in the aftermath of the Soweto uprising which took place in

South Africa and was banned by the government. In response to the ban, Gordimer wrote a protest in a pamphlet which was widely circulated. The book has been acknowledged as among the “few truly great political novels ever written”, while Gordimer herself described it as a

“coded homage” to the Afrikaner lawyer Bram Fisher, who was the defense lawyer of Nelson

Mandela.

Her novel, July’s People (1981), features a bloody South African revolution where everything is the reverse of the reality of South African society of that time. In the story, it is the white people who are being hunted and murdered by the black people. The story deals with an educated white couple, Maureen and Bamford Smales, whose lives are at risk due to the revolution and who are seeking refuge with their trustworthy, loyal and life-long servant, July who tries hard to save them. The novel features various African ethnic groups associated with July his family and his village and the family of Smales. It describes the savagery,violence and racial hatred that mark the actions of people who in other circumstances might be quite human. Burger’s Daughter and

July’s People are regarded as the most complex works by Gordimer.

Gordimer’s novel, The Pickup (2002) is an award winning novel dealing with diasporic issues of displacement, dislocation, alienation. At the same time it talks about love and humanity and the astounding ability of some people to transcend the divisions of religions, economic differences and still retain their humanity. The novel is the love story of a financially comfortable white woman, Julie Summers, and an illegal Arab immigrant in South Africa, Abdu. They marry, but because of the denial of a visa they are forced to go back to the Arab world from where Abdu

hails. The cultural shock and the subsequent alienation that Julie experiences constitute the rest of the novel.

Published in 2005, , is the story of a man who is undergoing treatment for cancer. The required radiation therapy causes him severe pain. Being an ecologist, he has been battling the installation of a nuclear plant. The novelist investigates the question of how to integrate political activism with one’s everyday life. Gordimer wrote this novel after the death of her husband,

Reinhold Cassirer and it was inspired by his life.

Besides the Nobel Prize, Gordimer was honoured with numerous other prestigious international awards . Some of the others are the Booker Prize (The Conservationist in 1974) the W. H.

Smith Commonwealth Literary Award in 1961 (England), the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1972 (Scotland), the CNA Prize (Central News Agency Literary Award) in 1974, 1980 and in

1991, the Grand Aigle d’Or in 1975 by France, Modern Language Association in 1982 ( United

States), Rome Prize in 1984, PremioMalaparte in 1985 (Italy), Nelly Sachs in 1986 (Germany),

Bennett Award in 1987 (United States), theCommonwealth Writer’s Prize for the Best Book from Africa for her novel, The Pickup in 2002. She was also honoured with Honorary Degrees from the various Universities worldwide and was a member of many International Bodies.She was a fearless writer and the voice of conscience for almost half a century.

Mariama Ba

Mariama Ba was born on April 17, 1929 in a Senegalese Muslim family in Dakar, Senegal. She was an author and feminist with a large part of her work written in French. Living in traditional

African society she experienced immense gender discrimination since childhood. At an early age, she started opposing gender based inequalities in her society and faced a lot of criticism for doing so. Raised by her grandparents and due to her traditional family background she had to

struggle hard to acquire education since education for girls was frowned upon. Ba married a

Member of Parliament of Senegal, Obeya Diop Tall but this relationship was not successful and they later divorced leaving nine children for her to look after. Life had been very hard for her and she died in August 17, 1981 due to illness.

In her debut novel, So Long a Letter, she expressed her feelings regarding the status of women in African society and also her ultimate acceptance of the inequalities and injustice prevailing in her society. The novel is a reflection of the sorrows and resignation of a woman who is facing the rejection of her husband and sharing the mourning of his death with his second and younger wife. The novel also throws light on the women’s role in post-colonial Africa and is often used in literature classes According to Abiola Irele, So Long a Letter is “the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction”. It was awarded, the First African

Noma Prize in 1980 and has been translated into many languages around the world. In the book,

Ba has depicted the enormous contributions which African women have made to their societies.

She was greatly inspired by NafissatouNiangDiallo (1941-1982), a writer who created strong women characters in her writings and who was a friend and mentor who supported Ba in building up her confidence. Diallo’s influence is visible in the writings of Ba and in her portrayal of the leading female characters in her novels. The novel is based on exploring feminism and articulates the voice of the marginalized and suppressed women in the African continent. Women are subjugated socially and traditionally by culture and religion through various norms and customs

Originally written in French itis a semi-autobiographical and epistolary novel as is indicated by the title of the book. The novel starts with the protagonist Ramatoulaye Fall, a widow, writing a letter to her childhood friend Aissatouwho is an American immigrant and

resides in the United Sates. The reason behind writing the autobiographical letter is the sudden death of her husband Modou Fall due to a heart attack and consequently her becoming a widow.As is customary for a Muslim she has to remain in seclusion (Mirasse) for a period of four months and ten days.The letter recountsall the major events of herlife and containsa description ofthe miseries she has borne during her life and the details of her relationship with her husband. BothRamatoulaye and Aissatouand reject patriarchal restrictions. Though

Ramatoulaye tries to adjust with the situation she finds herself in after her husband’s second marriage, her friendAissatouopts for her own freedom. Aissatou rejects everything which comes in the way of her freedom and, inspired by her,Ramatoulaye too realizes that she can’t go on living a suppressed life defined by her culture.

Ba believedthat women should have confidence in themselves and trust their capabilities and they would be rewarded with success. Though they have to face many hurdles in their lives in various forms they should not give up or be defeated by them. Instead they ought to try and overcome them.They have the caliber to excel in every field like men and they can do this when they realize their own strength. In So Long a Letter, she has depicted the struggles that women face in bringing up their families and protecting them in times of calamities. Through the novel, she has given a message to all women in the world to take responsibility for their lives irrespective of which society they belonged.Referring to her love for books Ba said “ …they enabled you to better yourself. What society refused you, they granted…” ( Mariamma Ba, 1981)

Her second novel, Scarlet Song was published posthumously after her death in 1986. The novel is an interesting story of two lovers belonging to two ethnic groups. In the novel the two star- crossed lovers are depicted fighting with the tyranny of customs and traditions which stand in their way. Besides these two novels, she also wrote in French, La Fonctionpolitiques des

literatures Africainesecrites( The Political Function of African Written Literature) (1981) in which she has shared her thoughts and feelings very candidly.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Born on 15th September 1977 in Nigeria,Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novelist, short story and nonfiction writer. Recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant, James Copnall referred to

Adichie in The Times Literary Supplement as, “the most prominent” of a “procession of critically acclaimed young Anglophone authors [that] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature”.

Adichie started her career by publishing her poetry anthology, Decisions in 1997 followed by a play, For Love of Biafra in1998. She wrote the famous story, That Harmattan Morning which won her much critical acclaim. She has won several awards including the BBC Short Story

Awards in 2003, the O. Henry Prize for “The American Embassy” and the David T Wong

International Short Story Prize by PEN Center Award in 2002/2003. Some of her works include:

Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), You in America (2006), The Thing Around

Your Neck (2009), One World: A Global Anthology (2009), Americanah (2013), We Should All

Be Feminists (2014) and Imitation (2015)

Set in post-colonial Nigeria, a time when the country was witnessing political instability and financially backwardness,Adichie’s maiden novel, Purple Hibiscus has been well received. The protagonist of the novel is Kambili Achike, a fifteen years old girl of a wealthy family. Achike’s father Eugene is a religious zealot, a devout Catholic. He is also given to violence and psychologically and physically tortures his family- his daughter, his son Jaja and particularly his wife Beatrice. He creates a violent environment in the house and the story narrated by Kambili shows how her family disintegrates because of the tyrannical behavior of her father. It is also the

story of the coming of age of the young Kambilini and the struggle she undergoes to evolve into a mature person.

Kambilini and her brother spend time at their paternal aunt Ifeoma’s house, with her and her three children. Living in their aunt’s household, sister and brother experience a new feeling of freedom, love and care which is in marked contrast to what they have experienced in their own household. Their aunt’s household is also Catholic, but unlike their father’s house it is a happy place with liberal ideas encouraging the family members to put forward their opinions in front of each other. Living in such an atmosphere, Kambili and Jaja become more confident and open and are able to give their opinion on various issues.

In her aunt’s house Kambili falls in love with a young priest, Father Amadi, who awakens her sexual awareness of herself. But at this juncture an unusual thing happens in Kambili’s family as her mother, Beatrice who is unable to tolerate her husband’s violence any longer, poisons him. Jaja in trying to save his mother takes the blame on himself and is taken to prison.

On the other hand, her aunt Ifeoma is dismissed from her job at her University of Nigeria and decides to immigrate to America with her children. Three years after all these events, her brother

Jaja is about to be released from the prison and Kambili has become a confident woman of eighteen years. Unfortunately her mother Beatrice has been too deeply affected by the prolonged ill- treatment of her husband and is psychologically, permanently scarred. Thenovel ends on a cautiously optimistic note.

Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun has a unique title as it is named after the flag of

Biafra, which was a short-lived nation. The story is set before and during the Nigerian Civil war and became so popular that it has its cinematic adaptation, a film directed by BiyiBandele with the same title. The movie was released in 2014 starring some very popular actors. Her third

book is a collection of short stories, That Thing Around Your Neck (2009) which is widely read

and has been included in the syllabi of many countries.

Adichie has won many international distinctions and awards and is an outstanding young

novelist with much promise. She says, “I think of myself as a storyteller, but I would not mind at

all if someone were to think of me as a feminist writer… I’m very feminist in the way I look at

the world, and that world view must somehow be part of my work” (26-27).

Women writers like Nadine Gordimer,Mariama Ba &Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, though from

three different countries of Africa are bound by their moral and social concern for humankind

irrespective of gender, class and ethnic groups. They are trailblazers and women of courage who

address some of the most contentious issues of our times and articulate the voice of the African

woman.

References

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