Exploring the Representation of Women in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions
Ella Werleman 6032230
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Humanities English Literary Studies
Master Thesis June 30, 2017
The victimisation, I saw, was universal. It didn’t depend on poverty, on lack of education or on tradition. It didn’t depend on any of the things I had thought it depended on. Men took it everywhere with them. All the conflicts came back to the question of femaleness. Femaleness as opposed and inferior to maleness. - Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Condtions
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank Professor Carrol Clarkson for her kindness and for taking on my project without hesitation. Her inspiring stories of her motherland, have opened up a space where I feel comfortable enough to explore the postcolonial landscape of Africa. Through explorations I have come to understand the powerful position of women who often occupy a minor position in the African household. As such, in this paper I will hope to once again, give voice to the female body. Furthermore, I want to thank my family and friends who have encouraged my efforts. Last but not least, I want to thank Jake who has accompanied me to many lunch breaks taken during our study sessions at the library. On a more practical manner I want to state that I have read the University of Amsterdam guidelines and confirm that this thesis is my own work.
Table of Contents Introduction 5 Rationale...6 Historical Context...9 Theoretical Framework ..12 Postcolonial Theory...12 Colonizer / Colonized...13 Patriarchy...18 The Subaltern...26 African Womanhood...27
Images of Shona Women 30 Tambudzai...31 Nyasha...37 Maiguru...44 Ma'Shingayi...47 Lucia...49 Conclusion 53 Works Cited 56
Introduction
In this research paper, I will be closely examining Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. Although Nervous Conditions is a work of fiction, it contains autobiographical elements as it narrates the important history of Zimbabwe while exposing readers to the diverse culture and traditions. In an interview with Caroline Rooney, Dangarembga remarks that the process of writing “begins from [her] personal engagement with what is going on around [her], when I’ve been affected internally by what is going on . . . I just feel there is a need to say something” (60). By speaking for Zimbabwean women, Dangarembga gives these female subjects agency and a space of resistance in the colonial landscape. While the female author, Tsitsi Dangarembga presents readers with many aspects of Zimbabwean practices, this paper will draw its focus on the condition of women. How do women function in the postcolonial landscape of Zimbabwe? How do the effects of colonialism affect these women?
By looking outside of the historically dominant discourse, this research paper will illustrate how colonialism interacts with the notion of patriarchy in this context. Since, the characters in the novel form part of the African Shona community, this paper will examine how this influences their representation in the novel. Notably, with Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga is trying to let her voice be heard in a world which is predominantly ruled by patriarchy. This paper will draw its focus on the marginalized position of Zimbabwean women, giving a voice to very different characters who harbor a different world of
experiences. By analyzing the images of the women in Nervous Conditions, a case will be made for the position of female subjects in the Zimbabwean landscape. This paper will hope to create a space where the voice of these women can be heard but also understood.
Furthermore, this research will be explored through the lens of postcolonial studies to give proper definitions for the conditions described in the novel.
Rationale
In the analysis of Nervous Conditions, I will look closely at the protagonist of the story, Tambudzai. Additionally, a large part of this paper will focus on Tambu’s cousin, Nyasha, who plays an important role in the representation of women in this novel. Furthermore, Nyasha’s mother Maiguru and Ma’Shingayi, Tambudzai’s mother will not be left out of the discussion as these female bodies are trying to regain their voice and resist the dual nature of their oppression. Moreover, Lucia, Tambudzai’s aunt, forms an interesting character of study since she is illustrated similarly to Tambudzai, as the one who escapes the conditions which have rendered her as oppressed in the colonial landscape.
Not only does Dangarembga’s novel explore the fragments of colonialism, but it also goes a bit further to suggest that the position of women in the colonial environment is even more disempowered than the position of men as they struggle under patriarchal authority. Consequently, these power structures need to be examined to speak for the female subjects in Nervous Conditions. By looking outside of the lens of postcolonial theory, this research paper will hope to prove how these binaries can be challenged and function outside of the dominant discourse. Significantly, the notion of patriarchy becomes important in the discussion of the traditional values held in place by the Shona community. In the analysis of Nervous
Conditions, mainly the female characters will be examined to speak about the ‘nervous condition’ that they encounter in their lives. As women of the Shona tradition, these women form ideal representatives in the struggle against the dual oppression of patriarchy and colonialism in the African landscape. Significantly, the representation of the mothers in this family, especially Maiguru should not be forgotten, as she poses as the oppressed intelligent wife of Uncle Babamukuru. Maiguru struggles to find a space in the midst of Shona
patriarchy and colonialism, where her voice can be heard. Unlike Tambudzai and Nyasha, Maiguru seems to have given up on re-conquering the female space due to her obedience to
her husband, Babamukuru. In this research paper, I will also give special attention to
Babamukuru as he positions himself in the role of patriarchal authority. Nevertheless, despite their struggles, Tambudzai and Nyasha illustrate how the female body can be seen as a sign of resistance against colonialism and Shona patriarchy. Despite the colonial and patriarchal conditions which render the female as inferior subject, this research paper will hope to prove how the women depicted in Nervous Conditions can survive the ‘nervous conditions’ which have been cast upon their bodies.
I’ve chosen to write this research paper because the African identity is constantly in motion. Due to the recent history of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean identity is a work that is in progress and still transforming. Therefore, it becomes relevant to examine not just African identity, but to specifically draw focus on the position of the African female subject. Without a doubt, the transcendence from colonial experience alongside patriarchal authority is
relevant because it tells us an important story of this double oppression. Additionally, by drawing the focus on the images of African women, this research paper will hope to contribute to the discussion of the resistance of African women to patriarchy and colonial power. Thus, it is important to explore how these different women can seek to transcend their colonial experiences, but also examine the path that these women take to resist patriarchal authority. Certainly, in Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga presents us with female characters that function as agents of social change in the African tradition. In the analysis of this novel, it is important to look at the subjectivity of the female body. In this sense, the individual self and the lived experiences of these women is important because it moves us past the
representation of the male gaze.
In writing this research paper, a conscious decision has been made to exclude the story of the other men in this novel. While the story they tell is of great significance in the discussion of the roles that male subjects play in the Shona community, the narrative of the
Shona women is of greater importance for this research paper. This paper is divided into two chapters, each containing several subchapters. The first chapter is centered on the theoretical framework that encapsulates this research paper. In using postcolonial theory as a point of departure, this thesis will open up to include a discussion of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth and additionally, Black Skin, White Masks. Moreover, this paper will draw on Homi K. Bhabha’s theory of mimicry and hybridity to illustrate the patriarchal domination in this novel. Significantly, Homi K. Bhabha’s hybridity theory will be challenged to examine how the women in this novel form part of a hybrid culture. Furthermore, readers will be guided through Gayatri Spivak’s subaltern theory as this research paper will challenge the notion of the postcolonial female as the subaltern woman. Furthermore, by delving deeper into
postcolonial theory, I will be examining the role of women through feminist scholarships. Last but not least, the notion of African womanhood will be discussed as it tells us an
important story of the courageous women in this novel. Readers should note that the different roles of mothers and daughters will be explored to give more attention to the different roles of women in this novel.
In the second chapter, this paper will focus on the different images of women as they are presented in this novel. Divided into subchapters, this final section will narrate the roles of protagonist Tambudzai and her fierce cousin Nyasha, as well as their mothers,
Ma’Shingayi and Maiguru. Furthermore, Tambudzai’s aunt Lucia will also be examined to illustrate how they function in the colonial and patriarchal setting of this novel. Furthermore, this paper will explore the role of patriarchal authority by examining the representation of Babamukuru through different interactions with the female subjects. Additionally, to speak for the female subjects in Nervous Conditions, the manipulation of food will be given some attention to speak in all entireties for the female body. This research paper will hope to give a voice to the marginalized women in this novel and tell an important story of oppression in the
colonial landscape of Zimbabwe. This research paper will examine how the female bodies in Nervous Conditions show resistance to the double nature of their oppression. Ultimately, this paper will explore how Tsitsi Dangarembga attempts to decolonize the female body in Nervous Conditions to reveal the colonial and patriarchal conditions that govern the spatial relations and bodies of Zimbabwean women and offer a space for resistance.
Historical Context
To better understand Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, I will give a brief overview of the history and culture of the people of Zimbabwe. Because of the autobiographical elements of this text, it is significant to illustrate Nervous Conditions as a historical artifact. Essentially, the history and culture of the Shona community, which is presented in Dangarembga’s novel is so rich and unique that it needs to be examined to fully understand the conditions of the Shona male and female subjects. As Michael Bourdillon remarks, “to understand who a people are, we have to look at their past, the history from which they arose” (3).
Significantly, the history of the Shona people gives us a better understanding of the principles that govern their local traditions. By drawing attention to the hierarchal structures and
position of women, this analysis will hope to illustrate the patriarchal structures that function in a Shona community. While a lot can be said about the history of the Shona people that date back to the 15th century, this research paper will focus exclusively on the patriarchal customs
that govern the traditions of the local people.
According to scholar, Michael Bourdillon, “rural Shona communities, like small, closely knit communities all over the world, are built around their patterns of kinship” (21). Because the social relationships that govern the structures of the Shona people are tight in nature, it becomes interesting to see how social relationships are built and maintained by “a number of extended families [who] live together in a village community” (53). Like most small communities, the male takes on an important position in the Shona community and so,
“kinship through males is stressed over kinship through females” (21). As such, the
distinction between males that take an important position in the Shona community is coined the term ‘baba’, which means father and the top male position of the patrilineal kinship is named ‘babamukuru’ which means great father (21). Indeed in Nervous Conditions, the most important male figure takes on the name of Babamukuru, as he comes to represent not only as the sole provider of his clan but also as the oppressive force that renders the female subjects in a state of peril. Readers should note that in Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga employs the character of Babamuku to represent the patriarchal authority that is held in place. Often, Zimbabwean women had to stay at home and take care of the children with the consequence that there was little room for women to expand their bodily horizons outside of the space of the homestead. According to Ogege Samuel Omodjhowoefe with,
the face of this dependence, men became dominant. Men go for hunting, build houses and meet other survival expectations of the women. Thus, the role men play became not only valued but also prestigious. In contrast, little prestige and values was given to ordinary routine, taken for granted activities of women. This marked the genesis of female minority status in society. (68)
Because of patrilineal kinship, there is little space for the women in the family to take control over their own destiny. According to Bourdillon, “although a woman could always acquire a position of standing with some authority, the traditional position of women had deficiencies relative to that of men, deficiencies which found clear expression on formal legal and ritual occasions” (48). In spite of the fact that legal and ritual matters are not discussed in Nervous Conditions, readers should note that the role of women and their position in the Shona community is one that is flawed in comparison to that of the Shona men. Some critics even argue that “the traditional position of Shona women is little better than the position of a slave” (47). Because of their weak position, Shona women are often looked down upon by
their male superiors. Nevertheless, Bourdillon notes that “in modern times women are able to free themselves from subordination to their menfolk through economic independence” (51). It is for this very reason that education is so important in the discussion of the women in this novel, as it reveals how these women can find ways to resist, but also escape their colonial and patriarchal oppression. Therefore, it has become increasingly important to give these Shona women a voice as the traditional roles of women are in transition.
Theoretical Framework Postcolonial Theory
In The Postcolonial Reader, Ashcroft et al. suggest that “in many different societies, women, like colonized subjects, have been relegated to the position of ‘Other’ by various forms of patriarchal domination” (249). In fact, “feminist and post-colonial discourses both seek to reinstate the marginalized in the face of the dominant” (249). Therefore, it is important to analyze the characters of Nervous Conditions not only for who they are but also for what they represent as women who challenge the notion of patriarchal domination. According to Neil Lazarus, “feminist theory and postcolonial theory are occupied with similar questions of representation, voice, marginalization, and the relation between politics and literature” (201). Significantly, postcolonial theory renders itself to interpretation in this research paper as it draws on the representation of the marginalized Other in the colonized setting of Zimbabwe. Because the Other is also a woman, the double oppression she endures must also be
explained. In fact, Ashcroft et al. note that postcolonial theory should “cover all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day. This is because there is a continuity of preoccupations through the historical process initiated by European imperial aggression” (2). Because patriarchal authority often interweaves itself with the notion of colonialism, it is significant to illustrate the struggle and resistance of the women in the novel through the lens of the postcolonial.
Notably, the double oppression of patriarchy and colonialism is what makes this novel an excellent study in the ways that women resist and control their bodies in the aftermaths of colonial dominion. Moreover, the question of identity is also important in the discussion of postcolonial theory as it illustrates how one’s identity, specifically, one’s female identity is shaped by the local culture. By illustrating the Other as the African woman, Dangarembga
allows for a space to emerge where the African female subject can find subjectivity and fight her resistance.
According to Ashcroft et al. postcolonial theory materialized when “colonized people had cause to reflect on and express the tension which ensued from this problematic and contested, but eventually vibrant and powerful mixture of imperial language and local
experience” (1). Although Nervous Conditions is set in Zimbabwe in the period right after the war, little is known to the reader of the country that is in transition. As a result of the
postcolonial condition of the marginalized subject, there is no space for the female to escape her oppression. By contemplating on the oppressive situation that has ensued from colonial experience, Dangarembga creates a space where these women can find a place to locate their suffering. Nevertheless, questions remain if the novel is operating in the margins of
postcolonial theory. Since Nervous Conditions is set in the period after colonialism, this paper will examine if this novel fits in the dominant framework. Certainly, since Nervous Conditions approaches “the continuing process of imperial suppressions and exchanges”, this novel should be considered in the light of postcolonial theory since readers can contemplate how “imperial process works through as well as upon individuals” within the novel (Ashcroft et al. 3). Considering the women in Nervous Conditions attend to the consequences of
colonial and patriarchal dominance, it becomes important to look at the novel through the lens of postcolonial theory.
Colonizer / Colonized
One cannot think of Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, without meditating on Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth. After all, in the opening page of her novel, Dangarembga presents her readers with, Jean-Paul Sartre’s rendition of the ’nervous condition’ of the Other. In the preface to Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, Jean-Paul Sartre notes how “Two worlds: that makes two bewitchings; they dance all night and at dawn they crowd into the
churches to hear mass; each day the split widens. The status of "native" is a neurosis introduced and maintained by the colonist in the colonized with their consent” (liv).
Certainly, Sartre illustrates how the condition of the native is governed by the space that the colonizer allows the colonized subject to inhabit. Similarly, this marginalized space mirrors the space that the African female body is subjected to under patriarchal authority. Therefore, in the analysis of Nervous Conditions, it is important to look at how patriarchy casts a deeper shadow on the female subjects in this novel. Aside from roaming in the space of the colonial household, the female subject is doubly scrutinized under patriarchal rule.
Written in 1961, Homi K. Bhabha comments in a foreword to the novel, which Fanon illustrates, “the concrete and contrasting worlds of colonial racism as experienced in
metropolitan France in the 1950s and during the anticolonial Algerian war of liberation a decade later” (ix). Frantz Fanon, who was at the time a psychiatrist who eventually formed part of the military in the Algerian war of 1954, still functions as an important figure in postcolonial theory. Significantly, the analysis of Fanon and Sartre’s comments on the status of the native is important in the discussion of Nervous Conditions since the novel concerns the status of the female colonized subject. As such, in The Trauma of Colonial Condition, Milena Bubenechik notes that “Dangarembga goes beyond the limits of Fanon’s canonical ‘master narrative’ of post-colonial psychiatric thought and literary criticism” and presents “patriarchal and colonial domination” from a woman’s point of view” (9). Furthermore, Sheena Patchay suggests that “while the novel takes from Fanon the idea that the condition of being native is a nervous condition, it ‘re-writes’ Fanon’s specifically colonized, male subject from a female / feminist perspective” (149). What this seems to suggest, is that with her novel, Dangarembga goes beyond the idea of the postcolonial to create a space for other interpretations of her novel. While Fanon tends to lay the foundation of his ideas on the male colonial subject, Dangarembga focuses on the notion of patriarchy that is inherent to the
nervous conditions felt by the women in the novel. Thus, unlike Fanon, Dangarembga goes beyond “other psychological realities that [he] leaves unexamined – most specifically the role of gender in the colonial context” (Schatteman 213). Readers should take note how
Dangarembga, as a female subject tries to find a space where her female voice can be heard in the colonial context.
In The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon claims that “it is the colonist who fabricated and continues to fabricate the colonized subject” (2). Thus, Fanon believes that in the process of decolonization, the colonized subject challenges the colonizer and takes on his role. This division of two worlds leads the colonized subject to behave in the footsteps of the colonizer. If this is true for the colonized subject’s experience, then what does this tell us about the location of the colonized subject’s culture? Do the oppressive forces of colonization render the colonized subject to dismiss his own culture in favor of the colonizer’s experience? Since Babamukuru functions as the male patriarch of the novel, the discussion of the fabricated colonized subject will center on his experiences. However, Babamukuru is not the only one who wants to play in the light of the colonial experience. This research paper will also illustrate how Tambudzai and Nyasha function in this environment. Do these young women manage to escape the traditional roles that have been implemented on their female
experiences? More than anything, these women want to escape their familial experiences and yearn for a form of autonomous individual experience. Thus, this paper will examine if this experience is rooted in the tradition of the colonizer. According to Lindsay Pentolfe Aegerter, both Tambudzai and her cousin Nyasha “are the "split subject" . . . alienated from themselves and from their traditional culture by the oppressions of their own culture as it intersects and collides with colonial patriarchy” (235). The oppression that both young women feel is of dual nature, and readers should note how both young women seem to be stranded in the space that remains after colonialism. Undeniably, in Nervous Conditions, these women are
transforming their colonial experiences to one of their own. With Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga has attempted to delve outside of the dominant framework of colonialism to illustrate how the five strong women in this novel have made their own path of freedom.
Certainly, Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks is significant for this research paper as it deals with issues of finding one’s identity in the postcolonial world. Readers should note how these female characters struggle in the search for their own identity as they are faced with Western concepts of whiteness as forms of colonial power. Notably, the struggle to find one’s own African female identity in the remnants of colonialism is important as the colonized often, in the search for their own identity, try to imitate the colonial powers that are already in place. According to Bubenechik, “Fanon’s psychoanalytical work condemns colonialism for the disruptive forces it releases on the side of the colonized” (24). Thus, the experience of colonialism has left the colonized subject to function in the marginalized role of the oppressed. In a foreword to Black Skin, White Masks, Ziauddin Sardar notes that Fanon’s novel is more than anything, “about being oneself with all the multiplicities, systems and contradictions of one’s own ways of being, doing and knowing. It is about being true to one’s Self.” (vii). In analyzing Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks, it becomes extremely important to analyze Nyasha’s character as she forms the representation of the power struggle. In
attempting to find her Self, Nyasha struggles to find a space to function between the role of the colonizer and the colonized. Although she is African, she adheres to Western, or rather English standards as tools of patriarchal resistance. According to Sardar, not only does Black Skin, White Masks uncover the psychology behind colonial power, it also, “examines how colonialism is internalized by the colonized, how an inferiority complex is inculcated, and how, through the mechanism of racism, black people end up emulating their oppressors” (x). This exact inferiority complex is at the core of the characters of Nervous Conditions as both Nyasha and Tambudzai seem to struggle not only in the role of the oppressed but in the role
of the oppressed woman. Readers should note that it is at exactly this moment that space is created where Fanon’s theory can go beyond the reaches of the dual role of the colonizer / colonized.
According to Irene Gendzier, in Black Skin, White Masks, “not only does Fanon explode the myth of the neutrality of language, he offers an astute elaboration of what it means to speak the language of the dominant class” (47). It becomes very clear to the reader, that in the analysis of Nyasha’s character, she comes to represent the colonized subject who wants nothing more than to adopt the Western language of the colonizer. Inherently, readers should note that “the use of language as a tool of assimilation and the subsequent rebellion against linguistic integration and alienation have become familiar aspects of colonial life” (Gendzier 47). Thus, the problems of taking on the language of the colonizer will be
examined in this paper as the dismissal of the Shona language tells readers an important story of Nyasha’s identity construction. The resistance to one’s own culture is significant not only for Nyasha but also for the analysis of the other four women whose struggle needs to be examined through a postcolonial lens.
Furthermore, in The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon notes that, “The native intellectual who comes back to his people by way of cultural achievements behaves in fact like a
foreigner” (223). While Dangarembga illustrates how Babamukuru and his wife Maiguru are native intellectuals who come back home to their family, it is the representation of Nyasha that is more interesting for this discussion as she willingly rejects Shona tradition. While Fanon presents us with the conditions that are required for the native, “the colonized subject/agent Fanon constructs, is gendered” and thus male (Ismail 1677). Significantly, Fanon does not appear to include the role that gender plays in the colonial representation of oppression. Therefore, his argument is biased since he does not illustrate how gender
ignore sexual difference altogether, but he explores sexuality‘s role in constructing race only through rigid categories of gender” (77). As such, “the production or exclusion of
femininities” seems to rely heavily on the prominent masculinity that is present in the colonial discourse (Bergner 77). It is for this reason that this paper will focus on the position of women in the novel since it gives the often forgotten female subjects a voice in the colonial landscape. Thus, Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions offers readers an alternative method of looking at African women in a new light. Notably, Dangarembga writes back to Fanon to illustrate the double nature of the oppression of Zimbabwean women.
In the preface to Fanon’s oeuvre, Sartre points out that the colonists “will only be fueling in [the colonized] bodies a volcanic fury . . . at first the only violence they understand is the colonist's, and then their own” (li). Consequently, the suppressed fury of the colonized finds a space where it can turn inwards and haunt the colonized subject. Thus, readers should note that by turning their anger against their oppression inwards, these women can become subjects who corrupt their very sense of self. This violence is especially present in the representation of Nyasha who struggles with her body in the colonial landscape. While Fanon’s oeuvres suggest that violent oppression to the white colonial order stems from colonial circumstances, Nervous Conditions goes further to consider how colonial dominance can be read in a new light. Not only is this form not entirely anchored in violence, but it suggests different approaches of resistance for women. This resistance, which is exercised by Tambudzai, Nyasha, mother Maiguru, Ma’Shingayi, and Lucia illustrates a common space that continues to operate in the patriarchal households of Zimbabwe. However, this form of resistance is not violent, rather it is fought through the use of the female body.
Patriarchy
aOne notion that should not be overlooked in the discussion of Nervous Conditions, is the concept of patriarchy. According to feminist scholar Candice Jenkins, patriarchy is concerned
with “the rule of the father, including the rule of older men over younger men and of fathers over daughters as well as husbands over wives” (973). This form of control is thus usually exercised by members of the male population who impose on the freedom of women. In Africa, this problem is not only linked to colonial representation, but also to the traditional values that are still held in place by African communities. As such, gender stratification is prevalent in African households, especially in Shona communities where women lose their power of expression and female oppression finds a space to grow. Elizabeth Schmidt argues that not only colonial power led to the subordination of women, but also “indigenous and European structures of patriarchal control reinforced and transformed one another, evolving into new structures and forms of domination” (734). Indeed, this form of power can be taken back to colonial rule as it rendered the situation of gender power relations in the homestead as unbalanced. Notably, in the discussion of Nervous Conditions, the notion of African
patriarchy should be acknowledged as functioning alongside the notion of African feminism. Certainly, African feminism has emerged as a direct consequence of colonial and patriarchal rule and therefore, the discussion of patriarchy cannot be sustained without mirroring African feminism. According to Rudo Gaidzanwa, it is important to analyze the different characterizations of women in Zimbabwean literature, because when “women are depicted as mothers, wives, divorcees, widows, single, jilted and prostitute women” in a culture of, “male dominated capitalist society, the women are not the most highly regarded” (11). In the novel, there is patriarchy of tradition but also patriarchal authority as a result of colonial power. While patriarchy of tradition is grounded in Shona culture, the postcolonial landscape is fueled by colonized subjects who want to control the space of their homesteads. Significantly, Milena Bubenechik notes that, the colonial enterprise “renders Tambu and other native women doubly oppressed . . . the British colonial authority oppresses the male indigenous population and indigenous men themselves oppress their women” (14). Thus,
readers should note that the colonial enterprise has left its imprints on the African gender relations as women became, even more subordinate to men and confined to the spaces of their own home. In the analysis of patriarchy in Nervous Conditions, it is important to look at the representation of the homestead in the postcolonial landscape of Zimbabwe. Certainly, the home becomes the space where the women are confined in their domestic sphere. This form of domesticity should be explored as a form of entrapment as African women are often subjected to the space of their house. Nevertheless, questions regarding the homestead as a place of liberation should also be explored as these will lead us to further notions of resistance against these forces. In Spatial Politics in the Postcolonial Novel, Sara Upstone claims that “postcolonial representations of the home . . . reject assumptions that domesticity is wholly the sphere of women and, moreover, that control of the home affects men only indirectly through its impact on the public sphere” (Upstone). Thus, the home is
acknowledged as the site of oppression since it does not allow for women to function outside of this private sphere.
Moreover, the representation of patriarchy illustrated in Nervous Conditions is performed on familial relations. Not only is this form of patriarchy enforced by male
oppression but also by women of the Shona tradition who continue to sustain this enterprise. Nevertheless, is there a way out of the double bind of oppression? Prominent scholar, Chandra Mohanty notes that African women, form part of the “Third World woman” who “leads an essentially truncated life based on her feminine gender (read: sexually constrained) and being ‘third world’(read: ignorant, poor, uneducated, tradition-bound, domestic, family-oriented, victimized, etc.)” (337). These women are classified as such because they represent the marginalized group since their oppression is doubled in the postcolonial enterprise. As such, African feminism finds a place to grow in the space that is created for the female subject to resist her oppression. According to Helen Chukwuma, feminism is concerned with
the “rejection of inferiority and a shining for recognition. It seeks to give the woman a sense of self as a worthy, effectual and contributing human being. Feminism is a reaction to such stereotypes of women which deny them a positive identity” (ix). Essentially, not only has Dangarembga allowed for a space in Nervous Conditions to illustrate the notion of African patriarchy that is present in the novel, but she has also allowed for the portrayal of African feminism to function as a force of resistance against this very belief. By illustrating powerful female subjects who actively engage and resist the forces of their oppression, Dangarembga has opened up a space where fellow African women can find a channel to voice their
resistance. Significantly, Dangarembga and fellow African female authors have been actively trying to change the portrayal of the African woman as “subservient, docile, timid, with low status and dependent absolutely on male figures around them, especially their husbands; they are passive victims of male oppression, and without agency” (Emenyonu and Eke 177). As follows, the five women in the novel function as proponents of the resistance against African patriarchy. In Women, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism, Tinh Minh-ha notes that regarding the representation of the African female author,
that whenever a woman of color takes up the feminist fight, she immediately qualifies for three possible 'betrayals': she can be accused of betraying either man (the
'manhater') or her community ('people of color should stay together to fight racism') or woman herself ('you should fight on the woman's side'). (104)
It is important to illustrate Minh-ha’s three positions for African female writers as it
illustrates how the representation of women in Nervous Conditions reveals the intentions of the author. In Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga shows, like Flora Veit-Wild claims “how to avoid the usual ‘entrapment’ of women, to come to a true form of emancipation and at the same time avoid self-destruction” (“The Elusive Truth” 119). As such, the emancipation and the tools of resistance of these women will be explored to challenge the different female
African identities that Dangarembga illustrates in her novel. According to Hena Ahmad, Nervous Conditions exposes “the female imperative to challenge traditionally prescribed roles by reinventing her self and reshaping her identity” (60). Notably, apart from struggling with this double oppression, the women in Dangarembga’s novel are faced with their own identity crisis as they fight to gain control over their own bodies. This paper will not only focus on the problem that patriarchy produces, but rather on the solution. How do these five women find a way to resist the dual nature of their colonial and patriarchal oppression? In the analysis of such questions, it is important to look at how the female subject views herself. Molara Ogundipe-Leslie writes that the greatest task for African women is the perception she creates of herself:
The sixth mountain on the woman’s back – herself – is the most important. Women are shackled by their own negative self-image, by centuries of the interiorization of the ideologies of patriarchy and gender hierarchy. Her own reactions to objective problems therefore are often self-defeating and self-crippling. She reacts with fear dependency complexes and attitudes to please and cajole where more self-assertive actions are needed. (36)
Thus, for the purpose of this research paper it is significant to study how the five women in Nervous Conditions view themselves in the light of patriarchal authority. Not only does self-perception contribute to a better understanding of the representation of women in this novel, it also tells us an important story of the position of women in Zimbabwe. Notably, the desire to please is acknowledged in Nervous Conditions as a problem that these women find
difficult to sustain. Furthermore, the position of the female subject in postcolonial Zimbabwe is governed by the marital status of the subject. Ogundipe-Leslie argues that “the woman as daughter or sister has greater status and more rights in her lineage. Married, she becomes a possession, voiceless and often rightless in her husband’s family, except for what accrues to
her through her children” (Ogundipe-Leslie 75). Nervous Conditions presents us with five different women. While Tambudzai and Nyasha are daughters to their mothers, Maiguru, Ma’Shingayi are mothers but also wives to their husbands. However, while Maiguru and Ma’Shingayi function in the traditional role of African women as mothers and obedient wives to their husbands, Lucia is different. Despite her position, Lucia is not yet a mother. As such, her role in the novel should be read outside of this discourse because she does not fit in the traditional role of the obedient mother. In the discussion of African women as mothers, this research paper will make a distinction between the roles of Maiguru and Ma’Shingayi on one hand and Lucia on the other hand. Because of the pivotal role that Lucia plays in the novel, this distinction is significant in the discussion of the African female subject. Perhaps in the representation of Lucia and all of these women in Nervous Conditions, African women can find solace as Dangarembga, mirroring writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o attempts to create, “strong, determined woman with a will to resist and to struggle against the conditions of her present being” (Detained 10). Contrary to most African writers, Dangarembga has succeeded in portraying the African female subject not as the victim of her own oppression, but rather creates female characters who attempt to resist the dual nature of patriarchal and colonial dominance.
How is the female condition of the African woman in society one of to be seen and not to be heard in the postcolonial landscape of Zimbabwe? Certainly, the male dominance over the female body can be acknowledged as a mode of silencing the female. Therefore, questions of silencing should be explored in Nervous Conditions as they relate to questions of the African woman as a subaltern subject. Unlike subaltern subjects, this research paper will examine if these women have a voice and how they function outside of the dominant sphere of the rural homestead. In The Empire Writes Back, Ashcroft et al. state that Homi K. Bhabha, has “sought to offer ways of dismantling colonialism’s signifying system and
exposing its operation in the silencing and oppressing of the colonial subject” (175). If this is true than Bhabha’s theory is relevant for Nervous Conditions as his theory seeks to examine how marginalized people “can speak and that a native voice can be recovered (Ashcroft et al. 175). Specifically, Homi K. Bhabha examines the culture clash of the colonizer and colonized subject and suggests that the colonized subject develops a condition of mimicry, which entails “a complex strategy of reform, regulation, and discipline, which ‘appropriates’ the Other as it visualizes power” (126). Thus, according to Bhabha, the colonized subject
becomes an imitator of the colonizer as he takes on the cultural values, but also the language and manners of the colonizer. Thus, the colonized subject places himself in the footprints of the colonizer with the aim of holding power over his community. Because of this mimicry, the colonized subject loses all sense of cultural identity and becomes an imitator of the colonizer. The notion of mimicry is significant in the discussion of Nervous Conditions as Babamukuru, having returned from England, becomes the representation of the mimic, as he adheres to Western values.
Nevertheless, Babamukuru’s daughter Nyasha, should not be overlooked in the discussion of mimicry, since she incorporates the language and culture of the West in her daily life. Moreover, radical feminist, Adrienne Rich claims that patriarchy is understood to be “the power of the fathers: a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men – by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, law, language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labor, determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male” (57). If this is to be true for Nervous Conditions, then readers should note how Babamukuru hold patriarchal authority over his family as he seeks to control the customs, eating habits and education of the women in the novel.
Therefore, it becomes clear to the reader that Dangarembga seeks to illustrate the unbalanced gender power relations that materialize in the colonial landscape.
Nevertheless, some critics such as Nkiru Nzegwu have argued that in African societies “women and men are equivalent, namely equal, in terms of what they do in the maintenance and survival of the community” and that “women’s sexual and reproductive capacities did not translate into a source of second-class status" (22-24). However, in light of Nervous Conditions, this paper disagrees with Nzegwu’s statement as it does not seem to acknowledge the underlining position of disempowerment for African women. Thus, in this position, Nzegwu and fellow scholars have criticized that patriarchy forms part of a
conceptualization to impose the notion of patriarchy on African societies. Nevertheless, as this paper hopes to prove, this notion cannot be taken into account in the discussion of Nervous Conditions, as Dangarembga illustrates how problematic the concept of patriarchy is in the lives of different African women throughout her novel.
By analyzing the unbalanced gender relations that take place in the novel, it becomes clear that patriarchy seems to be related to questions of power. How does the male subject render control and power over the female subject? And, how can we examine this form in Nervous Conditions? In the discussion of power it is important to understand what this notion entails and where it comes from. Notable scholar, Michel Foucault claims that power
relations can occur in spaces, such as the homestead because this space “is fundamental in any form of communal life; space is fundamental in any exercise of power” (The Foucault Reader 252). Even more so, power can also be acknowledged through the body. Thus, in Nervous Conditions the space of the homestead is represented by Babamukuru’s exercise of control over the female body. Although women usually take care of the Zimbabwean household, it is the men that control the space of the homestead. As such, this controlled space speaks volumes of patriarchal authority. According to Christopher Okonkwo, “for in a building’s design and internal operations are codified a number of significant power issues such as social and economic position, gender hierarchy, authority (who has it and how is it
shared, if at all), walls/boundaries, and freedom, among other things” (56). Thus, as readers can note, the homestead becomes the site where oppression in the form of patriarchy is exercised by the men in the house. Ultimately, this research paper hopes to prove how these five women find a way to resist their oppression through various forms.
The Subaltern
In “Can the Subaltern Speak?”, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak claims that “If, in the context of colonial production, the subaltern has no history and cannot speak, the subaltern female is even more deeply in the shadow” (82-83). Significantly, Spivak notes that, “traditional gender-stems have been used to appease colonized patriarchy by the fabrication of personal codes . . . They have also been the instrument for working out the displaced Envy of the colonized patriarchy against the colonizer” (“Diasporas Old and New” 97). As such, in Nervous Conditions, colonial patriarchy is sustained by the African men who impose their authority over the women in the novel. As a result, the position of the women is further reduced to a minor position. Spivak notes that the female question is concerning because “if you are poor, black and female you get in three ways. If, however, this formulation is moved from the first-world context into the postcolonial (which is not identical with the third-world) context, the description ‘black’ or ‘of color’ loses persuasive significance” (“Can the
Subaltern Speak?” 90). Indeed, Spivak seems to speak of this ‘double displacement’ of the female subject to illustrate how postcolonial feminism functions for subaltern women. However, can Spivak’s subaltern theory speak for the courageous women in Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions? Certainly, most of these women appear as marginalized characters in comparison to the men in the novel. Nevertheless, if we are to acknowledge that these women posit subaltern qualities, then we accept that these women function as silenced victims of their oppression. These victimized women are then, unable to speak, as the mutual oppression of colonial and patriarchal domination silences them completely. According to Elisa Thiago,
Dangarembga attempts to challenge Spivak’s argument “by constructing a character who achieves subject status, even while retaining those characteristics which make her a representative of the subaltern within the novel” (169). This paper will examine if the
marginalized women in this novel act in the role of Spivak’s subaltern position. Even though these women appear to reach subjectivity through the use of their bodies, it is important to highlight how they perform outside of Spivak’s framework.
African Womanhood
While patriarchy is concerned with the external factor of dominion over a woman’s body, this subchapter will focus on the internal experience. Certainly, patriarchy seems to function as an instrument, sustaining the colonial oppression of African women. Furthermore, the notion of African womanhood is strongly linked to questions of identity politics. What makes the African woman an important subject of study? Notably, the roles of African women have more often than not been described by men who rely on traditional images of African women to give their narrative meaning. However, according to Flora Veit-Wild, Zimbabwean
women’s writings, “closely reflect reality; in a very immediate and direct way women react to the social situation around them . . . it shows a great awareness of the contradictions and problems the new Zimbabwe society has to face and solve” (“Creating a New Society” 177). Thus, Zimbabwean women writers have tried to reclaim the space that has been governed by male writers. In an interview with Jane Wilkinson, Tsitsi Dangarembga remarks that Nervous Conditions is established on real experiences of Zimbabwean women. With her novel, Dangarembga attempts to rewrite the narrative of the African women. Significantly,
Dangarembga remarks that, “I think it's very difficult to separate constructions from reality and even to understand which way the influences were working, whether the constructions were working on the reality or vice versa . . . I would say that the one thing I was very concerned with was to leave a very real taste of life during the times that I grew up” (311).
Readers should note that the representation of Zimbabwean women is significant for Dangarembga as she tries to restore the literary space that is commonly taken by male
authors. With Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga presents us with protagonist Tambu and the story about her “escape and Lucia’s; about my mother’s and Maiguru’s entrapment; and about Nyasha’s rebellion” (1). Significantly, Nyasha’s resistance is articulated through her African womanhood. Her body becomes the location of expression but also of resistance as readers will note in the following chapter of this study. According to Therese Saliba, “with the hybridization of culture resultant from colonialism, indigenous women’s bodies have come to signify, within indigenous male ideology, sites of cultural impurity, bodies polluted or sickened by ‘diseases’ of Western influence” (133). As a result, African women’s bodies have become a locality for oppression as they continue to be subdued by colonial and patriarchal power. In an interview with Ruth Weiss, Sally Mugabe comments on her own experiences and the position of women in African communities:
African women had a very strong position. They were the mothers, they were the bread-winners, the organizers, the wives of the husbands, all at the same time. The family depended on the women for food, money, comfort, many things. It gave them a powerful position in the family, in the tribe and in the village. But they were, of course, handicapped. They couldn’t take decisions . . . The men feel that they are in a superior position, so the women have to fight for their rights on a collective basis. (18)
Again, readers should note how this oppression is felt across generations of African women. Whereas before they were in control over their bodies, colonialism has rendered the female African body to a minor position. Nevertheless, readers should note that in the Shona
tradition, the men take a superior position to women. In her novel, Dangarembga attempts to cross this space and illustrate how African women can become subjects who hold power.
Through the representation of the different women in Nervous Conditions, the reader
becomes aware that the body of the female can become a site of resistance against this double oppression. Despite their struggles, the author illustrates how these women can be perceived in another light. According to Mary Kolawole, “marriage and family values and assertion of feminine outlook are important canons of African womanhood” (197). Readers should note that marriages are important in the African tradition as it seeks to reinforce the female
subject. As such, females who choose to engage in marriage and acts of motherhood are often more respected by their female counterparts. In Images of Women in Zimbabwean Literature, Gaidzanwa notes that the position of the African wife is “judged in terms of how she behaves towards her husband and how she looks after him, the household and the children” (29). Furthermore, the ideal wife is “one who is totally committed to serving the interests of her husband and her children even at the risk of martyring or sacrificing her own interests” (29). Not only is this analysis important in redefying the position of women in Nervous
Conditions, it also gives resonance to the position of Maiguru as the educated wife and mother. Certainly, the notion of African womanhood is important as it illustrates the different roles that these women take in the novel. Ultimately, through explorations of the different theoretical frameworks that govern Nervous Conditions, this chapter hopes to give readers a foundation onto which the careful frame of this novel will be structured.
Images of Shona Women
This chapter aims to explore the different images of women that Dangarembga illustrates in Nervous Conditions. By examining the different roles of women in this novel, this chapter will illustrate how these women function as wives, mothers and daughters in the colonial landscape. Written in 1988, Nervous Conditions details the story of female protagonist, Tambudzai and her cousin Nyasha, “who must find a meaningful female identity by
negotiating between the threatening ideologies of Shona patriarchy and British colonialism” (Sizemore 70). Not only will this paper explore the images of the daughters of the colonial enterprise, it will also delve into the roles of the mothers and wives of the novel. Commenting on her novel, Dangarembga reflects in an interview with Jane Wilkinson, that Nervous Conditions is “of things I had observed and had had direct experience with, larger than any one person’s own tragedies . . . a wider implication and origin and therefore were things that needed to be told” (190). Readers should note how this novel not only tells us an important story of Zimbabwean women but also of Dangarembga’s experiences with the effects of colonialism and patriarchy. Not only is this story centered on the experiences of women, but Nervous Conditions also offers readers an account of the struggle for colonial and patriarchal liberation. How do these women struggle against the dual nature of oppression in the novel? And how does Dangarembga offer resistance for these female subjects?
Essentially, in Nervous Conditions, Dangarembga presents readers with characters who mirror each other. While Tambudzai finds her double in cousin Nyasha, the role of Maiguru is in juxtaposition to the role of Ma’Shingayi. Furthermore, Dangarembga brings the roles of Maiguru and Lucia together to illustrate how both of these women resist differently in the colonial landscape. Therefore, the comparison between these five women is significant in the discussion of Nervous Conditions¸ as it illustrates how their resistance to patriarchal authority operates in the novel. Certainly, in the analysis of the identity crisis that these
women face it is important to look the portrayal of each woman in the novel to illustrate how each female subject’s journey differs from the other in their mutual struggle for liberation. As follows, this chapter will be divided into five subchapters, each covering the role and
representation of the five women in the novel.
Tambudzai
This research paper will first focus on the female protagonist Tambudzai and present readers with the formation of her identity as a young woman in the struggle for dual liberation. In the analysis of the representation of Tambudzai, it is important to look at the forces that control her identity as a young woman. Since her uncle Babamukuru functions as the representation of patriarchal dominion, his role is significant in this analysis as it provides readers with the personification of her struggle. In “Willing Liberates” Amanda Waugh notes that
“Babamukuru functions at the intersection of traditional patriarchal and colonial systems of values, and represents the "last god" that Tambu must confront before being able to create values for herself” (86). As a result of familial relation, it becomes increasingly hard for young Tambu to reach a point in which she can break free from the ties that bind her to her oppression. Nevertheless, since Babamukuru functions in the role of the oppressor,
Tambudzai’s vision of Babamukuru as a ‘god’ is shadowed by the oppression that she experiences and observes in her family. Notably, Tambudzai is not only a witness to the forces that dominate her existence but also a witness to the struggles and resistances of the female subjects in the novel. Rachel Gorman and Onyinyechukwu Udegbe propose that “Throughout the novel, Tambu observes women in her family resist patriarchal authority by refusing food, and by refusing to speak or perform household labour” (310). Significantly, Dangarembga highlights how Tambu often helped in household chores, how she “made the fire, swept the kitchen and boiled water for washing and tea” (20). As an obedient daughter, Tambu was expected to prepare for the role that would shape her to become a good wife to
her prospective husband. Nevertheless, later in the novel, readers note how Tambudzai attempts to resist the familial forces that control her existence. By educating herself on the struggle of women, Tambudzai illustrates how she emancipates from the dual nature of her oppression. Especially towards the end of the novel, the illustration of Frantz Fanon’s
‘nervous condition’ becomes evident when Tambudzai finds herself reflecting how, “quietly, unobtrusively and extremely fitfully, something in my mind began to assert itself, to question things and refuse to be brainwashed, bringing me to this time when I can set down this story. It was a long and painful process for me, that process of expansion" (Dangarembga 208).
Certainly, returning to Fanon, it becomes evident that Tambudzai’s process of finding her own identity is crucial to the understanding of this novel. Not only has the experience of colonialism rendered Tambudzai to subjugation, the effects of patriarchy can be felt as she struggles between the margins of her identity. In the fourth chapter, readers are introduced to the ‘nervous conditions’ of Tambudzai as she narrates how her new experiences on “the day [she] left home” will give her “the honour for teaching them this emancipating lesson” (58). Readers should note how Tambudzai is experiencing the rise of her new identity which will enable her emancipation as an educated woman. Significantly, this moment marks the beginning of Tambudzai’s search for her identity. More importantly, towards the end of the novel, Fanon’s ‘nervous condition’ becomes more evident as Tambudzai “suffered a horrible crawling over [her] skin” (151). Tambudzai notes how whenever she thought back to her role as the obedient daughter carrying out chores like a maid in the household, her “chest
contracted to a breathless tension and even [her] bowels threatened to let [her] know their opinion” (151). The expression of her distaste is significant as she illustrates how the feeling of resentment is felt “whenever [she] thought of Babamukuru” which “put [her] in a difficult position (151). Notably, Tambudzai functions in the role of the colonized, as Babamukuru comes to represent the colonizer who will fuel a “volcanic fury” in the body of Tambudzai
(Fanon li). Significantly, Dangarembga illustrates how the anger felt towards the colonizer that Fanon describes in The Wretched of the Earth, can also be applied to the fury that Tambudzai feels towards her oppressor. Towards the end of the novel, Tambudzai finds that the oppressive forces of patriarchal power have rendered her to ‘nervous conditions’ as she struggles to find a space for her anger. This space acts as an agent against the oppressive forces that Babamukuru has unleashed onto her body. It is only by this fueling anger that Tambudzai finds a way to resist patriarchal dominion.
Notably, it is at this exact moment that Tambudzai finally begins to realize, through the act of memory, how she can resist the forces that have driven her all this time. At the beginning of the novel, readers become aware of young Tambudzai’s resilience to the news of her brother’s death. Tambudzai, aged thirteen when Nhamo dies starts by narrating the story of the women in her family. However, Tambudzai “was not sorry when [her] brother died” (Dangarembga 1). Immediately, Tambudzai seems to position herself in a rivalry with her brother Nhamo, who unlike Tambudzai “disliked walking so much” (2). As a male subject, Tambudzai often described how Nhamo “wanted to demonstrate to us and himself that he had the power, the authority to make us do things for him” (10). The reason that Tambudzai gives for her unapologetic aversion towards her brother results from the “injustice” she feels as “the needs and sensibilities of the women in [her] family were not considered a priority, or even legitimate” (12). According to Linda Chown, “Tambu speaks, remembers; she revels in the story, her story, what she has told, said, thought and written” (239). Significantly, readers should note that if Tambu is in a position to speak, she has a voice. As such, Spivak’s subaltern theory fails to support Tambudzai’s position in the colonial landscape. Despite the deplorable conditions of her existence, Tambudzai has a voice. Her voice is not silenced and as such, it tells us an important narrative of the women in this novel. By narrating the stories of these women to the readers of the novel, Tambudzai’s
voice is effected as a tool of resistance. With her voice, Tambudzai narrates the unequal position of the women in Nervous Conditions. Furthermore, despite constant discrimination, the women are often reminded of the traditional role that women take in the Shona tradition. While Tambudzai wants to seek education, her father reassures her and questions, “Can you cook books and feed them to your husband? Stay at home with your mother. Learn to cook and clean. Grow vegetables” (Dangarembga 15). Tambu, perplexed at her father’s nonsense questions her mother Ma’Shingayi on this matter. Ma’Shingayi continues, “This business of womanhood is a heavy burden” (16). With this thought in mind, it becomes important to analyze the injustice that Tambudzai as well as the other women in the novel experience. Because the site of injustice often occurs in the space of the homestead, it is important to highlight how these women use their lived spaces.
How do the women in Nervous Conditions govern their bodies in the spaces that are given to them? At the beginning of the novel Tambudzai narrates the importance of the space that the kitchen takes in the homestead. While the men of the family usually consumed the meals that were prepared for them by the women in the family, they did the act of dining by themselves. Tambudzai remarks how, “In the kitchen we dished out what was left in the pots for ourselves and the children . . . there was not enough left in the pot to make a meal for those who were not dining there. As a result the youngest of us had only gravy and vegetables to go with our sadza” (41). Surprisingly, these Shona women dined in the kitchen, the space that was confined to them by their husbands and fathers. Furthermore, young Tambudzai notes that by embarking on the journey of “limitless horizons” that Babamukuru has set out for her will only make her become an emancipated woman (58). Certainly, Tambudzai glorifies the new space that she will inhabit whereas she criticizes the place she leaves behind. Tambudzai remarks how “At Babamukuru’s I would have the leisure, be encouraged to consider questions that had to do with survival of the spirit, the creation of consciousness,
rather than mere sustenance of the body. This new me would not be enervated by smoky kitchens that left eyes smarting and chests permanently bronchitic” (59). As such, Tambu illustrates how the kitchen forms a negative space for the experience of women. Since these women were more often than not found in the kitchen, this space is important in the analysis of the resistance of the female subject. Tambu remarks how she “had slept in the kitchen all my life” and that “all the unmarried women, including Lucia, slept in the kitchen” (134). Readers should note how Dangarembga employs the space of the kitchen to mirror the struggle that the women in the novel feel towards their oppression. Certainly, Dangarembga seems to speak through the voice of young Tambu as she notes how, “the heart was a
depression in the floor surrounded by a tripartite tripod of iron which the pots were balanced; a depression surrounded also by large, smooth stones” (135). Notably, the description of this kitchen seems to mirror the women and their oppression as the female subjects can be taken to be the “smooth stones” operating in the field of the depression. This depression illustrates the colonial and patriarchal oppression that these women experience. Since the women are often found in the kitchen preparing meals for their husbands and family members, this is also the space where they struggle the most. Moreover, Tambu notes that “it alarms me to think of all that carbon monoxide hanging about in the air to asphyxiate people [making them] asthmatic and bronchitic” (135). As a result, the negative space of the kitchen seems to mirror the colonial and patriarchal power that these women encounter in the homestead. It is exactly this space that young Tambu wants to escape from in Nervous Conditions. As female subjects, these women experience inequality in the space of the patrilineal household. Ruth Weiss notes that South African females often claim that,
We know our men treat us badly, we know that we are minors all our lives, and we know that we must change all this. But for the moment we are together in the struggle. We cannot fight a divided struggle, the way European women want us to, fighting for
sexual equality. This means nothing to us when we are all exploited, simply because of our colour. (7)
This passage illustrates how Zimbabwean women are well aware of the struggle that is imposed on their bodies. However, the struggle that these women experience is not universal. The oppression these women experience is more difficult to control because of the remnants of colonial dominance. Significantly, Dangarembga illustrates how the presence of patriarchy seems to have more control over the lives of the women since they repeatedly attempt to confront the forces that are keeping them oppressed. Readers can be assured that “all the conflicts came back to this question of femaleness. Femaleness as opposed and inferior to maleness” (Dangarembga 118). At the beginning of the novel, Dangarembga illustrates that the injustice that young Tambudzai feels does not only stem from her feelings towards her brother, but that this force is part of a larger scheme that holds women in a marginalized position. As such, the male subject takes the superior role in the Shona household.
According to Nair Supriya, Nhamo, like the rest of the men in the novel, does not have to do the same chores as the young women in the family, who “in the household are given no such opportunity. The division of labor is not meant to exclude the male's
responsibility to the family, it merely differentiates and defers it” (130). By deferring the role of the male subject, Nervous Conditions tells us an important tale of unequal gender relations as male subjects are given a superior position to women in the Shona household.
Significantly, the role of Tambudzai illustrates how Zimbabwean women are continuously scrutinized and left to wander in the space of the homestead. Nevertheless, Dangarembga shows how despite her struggles, Tambudzai finds a way to resist her oppression. In the narration of the struggle for liberation, Tambudzai’s resistance to patriarchal authority is exemplified when, on the morning of her mother’s wedding, her “muscles simply refused to obey the half-hearted commands I was issuing to them” (Dangarembga 168). Significantly,
by choosing not to attend to the act marriage, Dangarembga demonstrates how Tambudzai creates a space where resistance can take place. Consequently, this instance is given more meaning as Tambudzai’s resistance to the act of marriage symbolizes her resistance to the notion of patriarchy. By choosing to stay in bed, Tambudzai demonstrates how physical resistance can take place through the use of her female body. As such, Dangarembga’s portrayal of Tambudzai reveals how despite her struggles, Tambudzai finds a way to escape the perils of patriarchal domination. Ultimately, Dangarembga illustrates how Tambudzai finally emancipates and finds a space where the “process of expansion” can take place.
Nyasha
While protagonist Tambu is characterized as the obedient daughter, her cousin Nyasha often renounces the patriarchal structures set in place by her father, Babamukuru, who functions as head of the Shona family. Certainly, Nyasha’s struggle to resist patriarchal and colonial power is significant for this research paper as it illustrates the ‘nervous condition’ of the native as the colonized subject. In the characterization of Nyasha, Dangarembga illustrates how resistance can also manifest itself through the body. Significantly, Dangarembga demonstrates how Nyasha’s resistance is achieved through the refusal of food. Throughout the novel, readers are presented with instances where Babamukuru insists that his daughter Nyasha, “must eat her food, all of it” or Babamukuru will “stop providing for her – fees, clothes, food, everything” (Dangarembga 189). As such, Nyasha’s body becomes the space where Babamukuru exercises his patriarchal power as a weapon of control. Nevertheless, Deepika Bahri claims that Nyasha’s resistance which is exemplified by the refusal of food, illustrates how she refuses “to occupy the honorary space allotted [to] her by colonial and patriarchal narratives in which she is required to be but cannot be a good native and a good girl” (3). It is in this manner that Nyasha finds a way to resist the dual nature of her
