NAME: JERUSHA NAIDOO

STUDENT NUMBER: 51458144

MODULE: ENG2603
ASSIGNMENT NO: 1
DUE DATE: 17 AUGUST 2015

Theme of gender inequality is explored by many authors in African literature

portraying the African patriarchal societies during and after independence; but
Dangarembga surpassed all her counterparts in her vivid depiction of this
inequality that affected the societies in her master-piece novel Nervous
Condition. The setting is placed in colonial Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, in the
1960s and 1970s.. This novel further depicts the inequalities enhanced by
imperial government and by the perpetuation of colonialism via gender
dominance and class division. The theme of gender inequalities in this novel is
unfolded through the unique characterization and more so the authors personal
experience in colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwe.

Dangarembga presents a clich of women who stand up against the internal

societal struggles to break the yoke of patriarchal dominance that perpetuated
imposing gender inequality. The road to solving this gender inequality is a
bumpy ride and acceptance in the strict patriarchal society ensures the
characters pass through severe stress and rejection but ultimately there is light
at the end of the tunnel as the society is gradually accosted by unstoppable force
for change through determination against the odds. Women characters sojourn
against the currents opposing their equality and gently in their cocoons of
brooding strive to be accepted. Tambu the main protagonist is raised in poor
family where the paternal uncle is well-up and had taken upon his obligation to
educate his brother Nhamo. Gender inequality is depicted as Tambu is not
entitled to be educated because the culture constructs the young women as
objects only confined into household chores and later to be married off. Her
dreams of education come true only when her brother Nhamo dies which is why
she is not touched emotionally by his death, but sees it as a blessing in disguise
since she has no other brothers she would be educated.
Gender inequality is also brought out in realities encountered by Nyasha, a
teenage girl who spent her influential years in England when her parents were
on scholarship education. Upon return in Africa, the ugly truths in the vast

cultural differences between Africa and Europe especially where women are
concerned dawns before Nyasha.
Dangarembga portrays the plight of African woman through the eyes of Tambu
and Nyasha in a dominating culture of patriarchy. The woman freedom is
curtailed, and Nyasha has despite her efforts to study hard, her lateness to be
home comes in question by her parents who have experienced different cultures.
Interdependence is another factor that has created or perhaps is to blame for
the gender inequality in the patriarchal society. Dangarembga presents a
situation in which the women are entrapped economically and thus have to
depend on men to survive. Tambus mother is among the entrapped, bound by
straps of social stratification and culture as a result of colonialism and so is Aunt
Maiguru who depends on Babamukuru for money.

Tambus mother has to depend on her farm and husband which point to her
poverty. She only sees her son as the only hope to break her vicious cycles of
poverty. As per the societys stereotype constructs Tambus mother does not
believe Tambus education would help that much. Even the educated women like
Maiguru are entrapped due to the inequalities of gender. Maiguru does not have
the status of her education as she is subjected to demands of men in her
community and those of her husband, ingrained in the culture.

The strive to break interdependence is the right way of women ending the
gender inequality. So far in the novel Tambu, Nyasha, Lucia and later Maiguru
are on the path to break the chains of demeaning culture and uplift the place of
woman in the male-dominated society.
To sum up, insights in gender inequalities are highlighted by Dangarembga and
what emerges very clearly is that the cultural stereotype constructs are to blame
for the injustices on girls and women in contemporary society. Dangarembga
succeeds in bringing out the theme of gender inequality through her vivid plot
development and characterization in colonial and patriarchy setting. It is
therefore doubtless that women in Africa and also around the world should not

only liberate themselves from cultural entrapment but also systems that tend to
dwarf their equality.

Emancipation is a term that appears again and again in Nervous Conditions.

Usually, the term is associated with being released from slavery or with a
country finally freeing itself from the colonial power that once controlled it.
These concepts figure into the broader scope of the novel, as Rhodesias citizens
struggle to amass and assert their identity as a people while still under British
control. When the term emancipation is applied to Tambu and the women in her
extended family, it takes on newer and richer associations. Tambu sees her life
as a gradual process of being freed of the limitations that have previously beset
her. When she first leaves for the mission school, she sees the move as a
temporary emancipation. Her growing knowledge and evolving perceptions are a
form of emancipation from her old ways of thinking. By the end of the novel,
emancipation becomes more than simply a release from poverty or restriction.
Emancipation is equated with freedom and an assertion of personal liberty.
Tambu was born a girl and thus faces a fundamental disadvantage, since
traditional African social practice dictates that the oldest male child is deemed
the future head of the family. All of the familys resources are poured into
developing his abilities and preparing him to lead and provide for his clan. When
Nhamo dies, the tragedy is all the more profound since no boy exists to take his
place. Tambu steps into the role of future provider, yet she is saddled with the
prejudices and limitations that shackled most African girls of her generation. Her
fight for an education and a better life is compounded by her gender. Gender
inequality and sexual discrimination form the backdrop of all of the female
characters lives. In the novel, inequality is as infectious as disease, a crippling
attitude that kills ambition, crushes womens spirits, and discourages them from
supporting and rallying future generations and other female relatives.
The essential action of the novel involves Tambus experiences in a Western-style
educational setting, and the mission school both provides and represents
privileged opportunity and enlightenment. Despite MaShingayis strong
objections, Tambu knows the only hope she has of lifting her family out of
poverty lies in education. However, the mission school poses threats, as well:
Western institutions and systems of thought may cruelly and irreversibly
alternative Africans who are subjected to them. Nyasha, who has seen first-hand

the effect of being immersed in a foreign culture, grows suspicious of an

unquestioning acceptance of colonialisms benefits. She fears that the
dominating culture may eventually stifle, limit, or eliminate the long-established
native culture of Rhodesiain other words, she fears that colonialism may force
assimilation. The characters lives are already entrenched in a national identity
that reflects a synthesis of African and colonialist elements. The characters
struggle to confront and integrate the various social and political influences that
shape their lives forms the backbone and central conflict of Nervous Conditions.

A radical feminist literary approach was taken when reading this novel. Radical
Feminism was at its strongest during the years 1965- 1975 during the second
wave of feminism; this was also during the years that our story is set in the
novel. Radical feminism aims to highlight the hypothesis of male dominance and
patriarchy as a means of power that categorizes society into a range of
relationships in order to assert control. As Ellen Willis states [patriarchy is] not
only the oldest and most universal form of dominance but the primary form.
(Willis, 1984) Radical feminists strive to prove that the direct cause of
oppression of women is patriarchy in gender relations, as opposed to the legal
systems as in liberal feminism or class conflict as in socialist feminism and
Marxist feminism. However, it is no longer as commonly referred to as it was in
the past because many sub-theories have branched from it. I chose to explore
this movement and use it as a point of departure for my research because I feel
that at the time, being an author interested in womens struggles, Tsitsi
Dangarembga would have been aware of the womanist movement and the
advances it was taking towards the emancipation of women throughout the
world. This movement arose from the civil rights and peace movement in 19671968. The reason this theory is deemed radical is that it views the oppression of
women as the single most important form of oppression, one that ignores the
boarders of race, culture and economic class. This movements main goal was
the struggle towards social change on a world wide scale. Furthermore, radical
feminism is focused on the questioning of gender roles. This is why past and
current gender politics can be identified with radical feminism. The movement
questions why people must adopt certain roles based on their biological form, it
questioned why society encouraged certain gender roles on both genders.
Radical feminism also attempts to differentiate between biologically determined
behaviour and culturally determined behaviour in order to allow men and women
the freedom that their previous roles hindered. Popular authors within Radical
feminism are both Anne Koedt with her book simply titled Radical Feminism, and
Alice Echols with her book; Daring to be Bad and this is still referred to by
scholars as the go to book of radical feminist literature to date. She states;
and just as the end goal of socialist revolution was not the elimination of the

economic class privilege but of the economic class distinction of itself, so the end
goal of feminist revolution must be, unlike that of the first feminist movement,
not just the elimination of male privilege but of the sex distinction itself: genital
differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally. (Echols,
1989, p. 163) As seen in the novel Nervous Conditions, radical feminists suggest
that due to patriarchy, women have been come to be known as the other
gender group in contrast to the male norm, and they suggest that all men
benefit from the oppression of women. This school of feminist thought can be
said to follow the exact assumptions made by Dangarembga in her illustrations
and portrayal of the struggles these fictional women face in their community and
how they strive to overcome adversity.
Furthermore, the issues that arose in the context of the story line can be related
directly to problems facing women in Africa, both in the past and to this day. I
believe that Dangarembga assesses relevant problems that, speaking from an
African womens point of view, make her a reliable source of information. As a
scholar of both theology and Gender Studies I am aware of the risks of speaking
on behalf of others and this is why I have decided to review the works of a much
respected African woman author. According to Linda Martin Alcoff, an American
philosopher that specializes in feminism, race theory and existentialism, there is
growing concern in the harm involved in speaking on behalf of others.

NAME

JERUSHA NAIDOO

STUDENT NUMBER:
MODULE CODE:

51458144

ENG2603

ASSIGNMENT TOPIC:

NERVOUS CONDITIONS - ESSAY

I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where secondary material has
been used (either from a printed source or from the internet), this has been carefully
acknowledged and referenced in accordance with departmental requirements. I
understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the departments policy in this regard. I
have not allowed anyone else to borrow or copy my work
SIGNED
DATE: 13/08/15