WIFELY SUBMISSION AND FILIAL OBEDIENCE: PATRIARCHAL SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE IN SELECTED LITERARY TEXTS SET IN AFRICA KIMMÉRA SHERRILYN PILLAY Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Studies), in the Graduate Programme in the School of Arts at the University of KwaZulu- Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. DECEMBER 2020 SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR CHERYL STOBIE 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .......................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... v ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. vi INTRODUCTION – PART ONE ................................................................................. 1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................... 11 METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................................................... 12 STRUCTURE OF CHAPTERS .................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter One............................................................................................................ 13 Chapter Two ........................................................................................................... 14 Chapter Three ......................................................................................................... 14 Chapter Four ........................................................................................................... 15 Chapter Five ........................................................................................................... 16 Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 16 INTRODUCTION – PART TWO .............................................................................. 18 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ............................................................................................................... 18 Religion .................................................................................................................. 18 Post-colonial Feminist Theology ............................................................................. 23 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 27 From a Crooked Rib ............................................................................................... 27 God Dies by the Nile ............................................................................................... 28 Purple Hibiscus ...................................................................................................... 28 Infidel ..................................................................................................................... 29 Not without Flowers ............................................................................................... 29 THEMES ........................................................................................................................................................ 30 Men vs Women ...................................................................................................... 30 Sons vs Daughters .................................................................................................. 32 Polygyny ................................................................................................................ 34 Prostitution ............................................................................................................. 35 Female Genital Mutilation ...................................................................................... 36 Hijab....................................................................................................................... 38 Domestic Violence ................................................................................................. 38 Religious Exploitation and Unscrupulous Prophets ................................................. 40 Proverbs ................................................................................................................. 42 Bildungsroman ....................................................................................................... 42 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................... 44 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 44 i Nuruddin Farah’s Background and Engaged Literature ................................................. 49 Synopsis........................................................................................................................ 50 “Alhamdulillah. Istagfurullah. Subhganallah” ............................................................... 51 “To Fly Away; like a Cock” .......................................................................................... 54 “Ebla was Nature, Nature had Personified in Her”......................................................... 55 “Girls were Materials, just like Objects or Items on the Shelf of a Shop” ....................... 57 “You are my Wife” ....................................................................................................... 59 “I Love Life, and I Love to be a Wife. I don’t Care Whose” .......................................... 63 “I am Master of Myself” ............................................................................................... 67 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................ 70 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 70 Nawal El Saadawi’s Background and Works for Social Justice ..................................... 75 Synopsis........................................................................................................................ 76 Gender Inequality.......................................................................................................... 77 Sexual Predation and a “Devout Muslim” ..................................................................... 79 Patriarchal Image of Women ......................................................................................... 82 Infanticide and Battering to Death ................................................................................. 85 Insanity vs “Unveiling of the Mind” .............................................................................. 88 Darkness vs Light ......................................................................................................... 90 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 91 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................... 93 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 93 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Background and Feminist Writings................................ 99 Synopsis...................................................................................................................... 100 Home is an Escape from Enugu ................................................................................... 101 Home is an Escape to Nsukka ..................................................................................... 107 Religion used as an Instrument for Oppression ............................................................ 112 Religion used as an Instrument for Liberation ............................................................. 119 “Defiance is like Marijuana” ....................................................................................... 123 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 127 CHAPTER FOUR ..................................................................................................... 128 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 128 Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Background and Establishment as Emancipator for Women ............ 138 Synopsis...................................................................................................................... 139 Social Control and Gendered Violence in Clan-based Somalia .................................... 140 Wounding and Mutilation of the Female Body ............................................................ 143 Physical and Psychological Ramifications of FGM ..................................................... 146