Gender Terrains in African Cinema
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Gender terrains in African cinema Dominica Dipio TERMS of USE The African Humanities Program has made this electronic version of the book available on the NISC website for free download to use in research or private study. It may not be re- posted on book or other digital repositories that allow systematic sharing or download. For any commercial or other uses please contact the publishers, NISC (Pty) Ltd. Print copies of this book and other titles in the African Humanities Series are available through the African Books Collective. © African Humanities Program Dedication To the affectionate memory of my father, Saturnino Bandhasi Okello, and my mother, Amelia Kalisa, who did not discriminate against their children and gave them the environment to dream. About the Series The African Humanities Series is a partnership between the African Humanities Program (AHP) of the American Council of Learned Societies and academic publishers NISC (Pty) Ltd*. The Series covers topics in African histories, languages, literatures, philosophies, politics and cultures. Submissions are solicited from Fellows of the AHP, which is administered by the American Council of Learned Societies and financially supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The purpose of the AHP is to encourage and enable the production of new knowledge by Africans in the five countries designated by the Carnegie Corporation: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. AHP fellowships support one year’s work free from teaching and other responsibilities to allow the Fellow to complete the project proposed. Eligibility for the fellowship in the five countries is by domicile, not nationality. Book proposals are submitted to the AHP editorial board which manages the peer review process and selects manuscripts for publication by NISC. In some cases, the AHP board will commission a manuscript mentor to undertake substantive editing and to work with the author on refining the final manuscript. The African Humanities Series aims to publish works of the highest quality that will foreground the best research being done by emerging scholars in the five Carnegie designated countries. The rigorous selection process before the fellowship award, as well as AHP editorial vetting of manuscripts, assures attention to quality. Books in the series are intended to speak to scholars in Africa as well as in other areas of the world. The AHP is also committed to providing a copy of each publication in the series to university libraries in Africa. *early titles in the series was published by Unisa Press, but the publishing rights to the entire series are now vested in NISC AHP Editorial Board Members as at January 2019 AHP Series Editors: Professor Adigun Agbaje*, University of Ibadan, Nigeria Professor Emeritus Fred Hendricks, Rhodes University, South Africa Consultant: Professor Emeritus Sandra Barnes, University of Pennsylvania, USA (Anthropology) Board Members: 1 Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Institute of African Studies, Ghana (Gender Studies & Advocacy) (Vice President, African Studies Association of Africa) 2 Professor Kofi Anyidoho, University of Ghana, Ghana (African Studies & Literature) (Director, Codesria African Humanities Institute Program) 3 Professor Ibrahim Bello-Kano, Bayero University, Nigeria (Dept of English and French Studies) 4 Professor Sati Fwatshak, University of Jos, Nigeria (Dept of History & International Studies) 5 Professor Patricia Hayes, University of the Western Cape, South Africa (African History, Gender Studies and Visuality) (SARChI Chair in Visual History and Theory) 6 Associate Professor Wilfred Lajul, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda (Dept of Philosophy) 7 Professor Yusufu Lawi, University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (Dept of History) 8 Professor Bertram Mapunda, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dept of Archaeology & Heritage Studies) 9 Professor Innocent Pikirayi, University of Pretoria, South Africa (Chair & Head, Dept of Anthropology & Archaeology) 10 Professor Josephat Rugemalira, University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (Dept of Foreign Languages & Linguistics) 11 Professor Idayat Bola Udegbe, University of Ibadan, Nigeria (Dept of Psychology) *replaced Professor Kwesi Yankah, Cental Univerity College, Ghana, co-editor from 2013–2016 Published in this series Dominica Dipio, Gender terrains in African cinema, 2014 Ayo Adeduntan, What the forest told me: Yoruba hunter, culture and narrative performance, 2014 Sule E. Egya, Nation, power and dissidence in third-generation Nigerian poetry in English, 2014 Irikidzayi Manase, White narratives: The depiction of post-2000 land invasions in Zimbabwe, 2016 Pascah Mungwini, Indigenous Shona Philosophy: Reconstructive insights, 2017 Sylvia Bruinders, Parading Respectability: The Cultural and Moral Aesthetics of the Christmas Bands Movement in the Western Cape, South Africa, 2017 Michael Andindilile, The Anglophone literary-linguistic continuum: English and indigenous languages in African literary discourse, 2018 Jeremiah Arowosegbe, Claude E Ake: the making of an organic intellectual, 2018 Romanus Aboh, Language and the construction of multiple identities in the Nigerian novel, 2018 Bernard Matolino, Consensus as Democracy in Africa, 2018 Babajide Ololajulo, Unshared Identity: Posthumous paternity in a contemporary Yoruba community, 2018 GENDER TERRAINS in African Cinema Dominica Dipio Originally published in 2014 by Unisa Press, South Africa under ISBN: 978-1-86888-735-4 This ditione published in South Africa on behalf of the African Humanities Program by NISC (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 377, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa www.nisc.co.za NISC first edition, first impression 2019 Publication © African Humanities Program 2014, 2019 Text © Dominica Dipio 2014, 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN: 978-1-920033-38-5 (print) ISBN: 978-1-920033-39-2 (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-920033-40-8 (ePub) Project Editor: Tshegofatso Sehlodimela Book Designer: Luba Qabaka Editor: Dina-Marie Steyn Typesetting: Luba Qabaka Indexer: Hannalie Knoetze Cover image: used under license from Shutterstock The author and the publisher have made every effort to obtain permission for and acknowledge the use of copyright material. Should an inadvertent infringement of copyright have occurred, please contact the publisher and we will rectify omissions or errors in any subsequent reprint or edition. Contents Filmography ix Illustrations xi Preface & acknowledgements xiii 1 Theoretical introduction 1 Introduction 1 Theoretical frames of African filmmaking 2 The griot tradition Individual and popular traditions Challenges of categorising African cinema The issue of women African feminism 15 Selected films and book structure 23 2 Imaging the girl child 27 Introduction 27 Children in African colonial and traditional settings 29 Pushing gender borderlines Mature actions and adult voices in children The politics of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) Children in adult worlds 57 Portrayal of children in synthesis 73 3 Negotiating spaces within patriarchy 77 Introduction 77 Dismantling patriarchal logic 80 The logic of bride price 90 Female control and forms of protest Male perspectives of marriage within patriarchy vii Questioning foundational myths and traditions 99 Female-virgin sacrifice for community wellbeing Female excision and the myth of marriage suitability From individual to community protest Women in polygamy 121 Polygamous men’s ‘fatal’ attraction to young, sophisticated women 125 Women under new economic challenges 130 Husbands undeserving of good wives Women in prostitution The feminine in the public sphere 143 Male victims under patriarchy 151 Conclusion 157 4 Positioning the elderly in gender relations 163 Introduction 163 Elderly women as centres of alternative authority 166 Male-female dynamics 177 The elderly as harbingers of change 184 Conclusion 189 5 Recurrent trends in gender representation in African cinema 193 Introduction 193 Trends in the representaion of women 194 Implications for film theory research 200 References 205 Index 221 viii Filmography Alassane, M. Toula ou la Genie des Eaux (Niger 1973, 76 min), IFAN-CNRSH. Amoussou, S. Africa Paradis (Benin 2006, 86 min), Metis Productions. Bekolo, J.P. Aristotle’s Plot (Cameroon 1996, 67 min), JBA Production, Framework International. _________ Les Saignantes (Cameroon 2005, 97 min), Quartier Mozart Films. Cissé, S. Den Muso (Mali 1975, 88 min), Souleymane Cissé Films. _________ Baara (Mali 1978, 90 min), Souleymane Cissé Films _________ Finye (Mali 1982, 106 min), Souleymane Cissé Films. _________ Yeelen (Mali 1987, 105 min), Centre National de la Cinematographie. Dangarembga, T. Everyone’s Child (Zimbabwe 1995, 90 min), Media for Development Trust. __________ Kware Kware Svako: Mother’s Day (Zimbabwe 2004, 30 min), Nyeria Films. _________ Growing Stronger (Zimbabwe 2005, 30 min), Nyeria Films. Dikongué-Pipa, J.P. Muna Moto (Cameroon 1976, 89 min), Cameroon Spectacle. _________ Le prix de la Liberte (Cameroon 1978, 90 min), Cameroon Spectacle. Gamboa, Z. The Hero (Angola/France/Portugal 2004, 97 min), David & Golias, Les Films de l’Apres-Midi, Gamboa & Gamboa Productions. Gerima, H. Harvest 3000 Years (Ethiopia 1976, 137 min), Haile Gerima Productions. _________ Bush Mama (USA/Ethiopia