- Title
- The escalation of gender war within post-colonial South African society: an interrogation of beauty’s gift by Sindiwe Magona, happiness is a four-letter word by Cynthia Jele and black widow society by Angela Makholwa
- Creator
- Goremusandu, Tania
- Subject
- Women and literature -- Africa
- Subject
- Women in literature
- Date
- 2021-09
- Type
- Doctoral theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21927
- Identifier
- vital:51843
- Description
- The critical analysis of gender war in the African context is not a new venture but it is rather a significant discussion to the development of gender and feminist theories. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the limitations to empowerment that African women face at the hands of a post-colonial patriarchal society like South Africa, exacerbated by the oppression and subjugation employed by patriarchal and cultural norms. Thus, the research provides a comparative analysis of three contemporary novels by award winning South African women writers in African literature: Sindiwe Magona, Cynthia Jele and Angela Makholwa. These three dedicated women writers examine the different ways in which African patriarchy and culture oppress professional, educated women. Their work portray gender and / or female oppression and the stereotypes experienced by African women in the context of post-colonial, heavily patriarchal South African society. Therefore, this study interrogates the experience of South African women, as explored in the texts, revealing the literary expressions of gender oppression as well as the possibilities of empowerment. In addition, the texts are analysed through the lens of the Feminist literary criticism theory, Gender studies and African feminism. Through the examination offered by these theories, the study focuses on the experiences of South African women, as expressed by the female characters in the selected texts, through a critical analysis of female oppression and resistance and on the idea that gender is constructed socially and culturally in the African context. As this project reveals, the problem arising within post-colonial South African society is that women are still oppressed and are seen as passive and submissive. As a result, patriarchal perspectives combined with women’s economic dependence on men, make reaching self-actualization a challenging and even terrifying experience, and is often impossible for most women to achieve. Thus, there is a need to understand the experiences of these women so that effective and culturally sensitive interventions can be implemented. The emergence of these renowned female South African writers together with the emancipation of African countries from colonial supremacy has opened a space for women to compensate for and correct the stereotyped female images in African literature and in post-colonial societies. Most contemporary African writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Neshani Andreas, Sindiwe Magona, Cynthia Jele and Angela Makholwa have shown that women are seeking empowerment and liberation. Therefore, this study seeks to highlight such experiences through its critical interrogation of the writings of selected South African women writers and the exploration of their gender-based themes in order to inform and or inspire women empowerment. It is intended to broaden and encourage further academic discussion in the fields of Feminism literary criticism, Gender studies and African feminism as well as women’s literature within the African context.
- Description
- Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (270 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH Department of English & Comparative Studies
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | GOREMUSANDU TANIA THESIS.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |