GENDER CONSCIOUSNESS IN AMA ATA AIDOO’S CHANGES AND TSITSI

DANGAREMBGA’S NERVOUS CONDITIONS

A TERM PAPER IN ENG 765: STUDIES IN AFRICAN PROSE FICTION

MEMBERS

NAMES MATRIC. NO.

1. AFOLAYAN M. BODE 160319

2. WATSON IFEOLUWA O. 161267

3. EROMOSELE EHIJELE FEMI 161565

4. ORUNMOLUYI OLUFUNKE A.

SUBMITTED TO:

DR A. KEHINDE

NOVEMBER 2011

Abstract

African literature in its entirety all over the continent has shown a consistent quality of being a

functional art which addresses the pressing concerns of the particular society which it reflects.

The women’s revolution in the West found its voice through the feminist movement and duly

expressed their concerns through the canonical works of women writers, essayists, novelists and

poets. This same trend is present in African literature, in which women writers have risen to the

task of examining the peculiarities of the African woman’s identity in a dominant patriarchal

society. This essay seeks to explore the dominant dialectics which constitute the considerations

of women in the African society and the dynamics of the male/female relationship as it is

depicted in Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions.

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Introduction

Gender has been redefined as “a set of culturally defined characteristics” or roles assigned to

people in the society. This has enlightened people’s perception on gender and removed their

limiting viewpoint of seeing gender from just sexual and biological perspectives. (Peter Barry

1995:22). Gender consciousness can be described as the awareness of roles and functions which

culture, religion, society, etc ascribes to the two sexes. These roles are culturally ingrained and

differ from one society to the other. Gender consciousness has continued to feature significantly

in African literature especially in women’s writing. According to Mary Modupe Kolawole

(1997):

In more recent time, women groups have continued to get mobilized to confront government and the society for their needs and increased power. The conditions of women in the home and at work, gender inequality, in law, differential remuneration or benefits, continue to be the focus of attention… (50)

In Kolawole’s Womanism and the African Consciousness, she establishes the fact that the gender

uprising movement had started in African communities long before the high-peak feminist

movement in the West in the early 1970s. However, such feats of female liberation and

significance in the African society are lost in history due to lack of proper documentation and the

superior stance of the West in their assumption that African women learnt about their rights from

Western feminism. It was assumed that before colonisation and the impact of western

civilisation, African women had always occupied insignificant positions in the African society.

Kolawole draws examples of valiant women such as Madam Tinubu of Lagos, Inkpi of Igala,

Moremi of Ile-Ife, Nehada of Zimbabwe, Madam Yoko of Sierra Leone, who in important ways

made positive influences and changes in their community through their powers and abilities.

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It is upon this background that the new stock of African women’s literature is patterned. Female

African writers such as Buchi Emecheta, Akachi Ezeigbo Adimora, Bessie Head, Ama Ata

Aidoo, Tsitsi Dangarembga, etc in their literary works depict the peculiarities that exist in

male/female relations in different spheres of their relationships; at home, at work, and in the

larger society.

The fight for women’s liberation may be a universal bid which is significant for women all over

the world. However one would be committing the fallacy of essentialism to assume that

women’s needs all over the world are the same. Therefore, essentialism is a limiting ideal in

feminism which inhibits its relevance in the totality of the African women’s experience.

This essay draws its theoretical background from Womanism; a kind of ‘africanised’ feminism

which takes into cognizance the peculiarities of the African woman’s experience. As a gender

theory, Womanism was coined by Alice Walker so as to include an aura of black consciousness

for African-American women who suffered from the dual oppression of racism and sexism.

Kolawole adopting Walker’s Womanist theory, defines Womanism as “...the totality of feminine

self-expression, self retrieval, and self-assertion in positive cultural ways” (24). Other proponents

of the Womanists theory include: Clenora Hudson-Weems, Chikwenye Okonjo, Omolara

Ogundipe-Leslie, etc.

The two novels under study in this essay; Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s

Nervous Conditions, reveal the complexities of the gender situation in Africa and how the

African woman can successfully achieve a balance between her trio responsibilities of

motherhood, wifehood and selfhood.

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Gender Consciousness in Aidoo’s Changes and Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions

Ama Aidoo Ata’s Changes (1991) is a love story which narrates the paradigm of a changing

African female personality within the contemporary African society. The novel portrays Esi

Sekyi, the major character who is an accomplished career woman. Esi divorces her husband Oko

because he takes too much of her time and because he commits ‘marital rape’ on her. However,

Esi decides to marry another man Ali Kondey and become a second wife. Within this novel,

there are other major female characters such as Opokuya; Esi’s bosom friend, who also has a

successful career as a nurse and a happy marriage to Kubi. Fusena is Ali Kondey’s wife who is

educated but does not use her educational qualifications.

Tsitisi Dangrembga’s Nervous Conditions (1988) is a novel which takes its title from Jean Paul-

Satre’s famous comment in his preface to Franz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth that: “the

condition of the native is a nervous condition” (Palmer 2008). Tambu, the novel’s heroine

narrates the experiences of the women in her family and how at each point, these women are

faced with critical circumstances influenced by both the condition of colonialism and sexism in

the Shona community. Babamukuru is the patriarch in the family who takes the responsibility of

catering for the whole family. Maiguru, his wife is subsumed under her husband’s identity and

she exists as an appendage of her husband. Nyasha, their daughter fights with the dual effects of

Western civilisation and gender imbalance in the African society while Lucia, Tambu’s aunt

arises a dominant force for female liberation and empowerment.

Aidoo’s Changes and Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions review the fragmented experience of

the contemporary African woman. Both novels depict the complexities that arise out of the

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influences of Western civilisation and education and the effects they have brought into the

horizon of male/female relationship especially in regard to marriage, family and career.

The notion of marriage in the African setting takes a dominant position. Marriage in the typical

African setting is seen as a compulsory rite of passage which a woman must undergo as part of

her maturation process towards adulthood. Aidoo in Changes explores the turn of ideals in the

situation of the contemporary African woman who is geared towards achieving career success at

the expense of marital/family happiness. The character of Esi Sekyi in the novel shows the

futility of such a choice. Esi chooses to leave Oko, her husband because he demands too much of

her and yet she submits to the fickle charms of Ali Kondey who abandons her for more lustrous

pastures after a while. Maiguru in Nervous Conditions on the other hand represents the picture of

docility that the African married woman is supposed to represent. Even though, she possesses the

same educational qualifications as Babamukuru, she is unable to use her abilities significantly

and carve out a career for herself. Dangarembga seems to portray marriage as a limiting strain on

the total freedom of the African woman. A notion which is broadened in Lucia’s statement:

‘Well, Babamukuru’, said Lucia, preparing to leave, ‘maybe when you marry a woman, she is obliged to obey you. But some of us aren’t married, so we don’t know how to do it. That is why I have been able to tell you frankly what is in my heart...’ (171)

Also, the character of Opokuya in Changes depicts a married African woman who has to

concede ultimate authority to her husband so as to achieve happiness in her home. Opokuya’s

marital success is highly tied to her submission to her husband in issues relating to proprietary

rights such as who rides the car to work. This might seem a frivolous issue but it is an important

marker of respect and submission to Kubi, her husband. In Changes, the sensitivity of some

kinds of marital rights is highlighted; Esi Sekyi leaves her husband because she finds him guilty

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of marital rape. However, in African parlance, such a notion is virtually non-existent and Esi

cannot confide in Nana, her grandmother because she would not be able to relate with such a

ridiculous reason. This raises the pertinent question of the woman’s right even in marriage as

regards conjugal rights; does the woman have the right to withhold sex from her husband? And if

her husband coerces her into having sexual relations with him, can it be called rape?

Closely related to the issue of marriage in both novels, the identity of the African woman; in

Changes and Nervous Conditions, women are portrayed as appendages to men without an

individual identity of their own. This can be seen as a struggle between the reproductive and

productive roles. Fusena in Changes even though she is educated, abandons her career to take

care of her husband and children. Maiguru in Nervous Conditions tolls the same line as she cares

for not just her immediate family but also the extended family of Babamukuru which includes

the burden of catering for Jeremiah and his family’s needs. Therefore, the woman’s identity in

both novels is often portrayed through the mirror of the men in their lives. Although, in Changes

there is the portrayal of a role reversal in the functions of a man in the society due to the changes

that education and modernity has afforded the woman. Esi Sekyi is a self-accomplished woman

with a lucrative career in the department of urban statistics in the capital city. She is well

travelled, attends inter/national seminars and workshops, owns a car and a house that belongs to

her. This depicts the empowerment of women in the contemporary African society through the

formation of an independent identity that is not entirely dependent on a man.

Although, both novels support the actualisation of a woman’s identity through self-assertion,

Aidoo and Dangarembga portray the Womanist ideal of side by side existence of the male/female

sexes. It is significant that in both novels, when the otherwise docile woman decides to revolt

against dominant patriarchy in its different manifestation, they are unable to remove their

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dependence on men totally. Maiguru when she finally revolts against Babamukuru and leaves her

home goes to her brother. Her daughter, Nyasha is disappointed that her mother only left from

one man to another man: “It’s such a waste’, lamented Nyasha, noting the difference. ‘Imagine

what she might have been with the right kind of exposure!” (175) Also, Esi Sekyi who complains

that Oko demands too much of her and leaves him only turns into the arms of another man, Ali

Kondey. This proves that the African woman cannot exist successfully alone without the

convergence of both sexes in a fulfilling relationship.

The concept of sisterhood is another strong motif which African gender consciousness writers

imbue into their works. The concept of sisterhood in the African setting as portrayed in Changes

and Nervous Conditions is one which buds from cordiality and not sexuality; this is in contrast to

the Western feminists’ ideal of sexual bonding between women as an alternative to sexual

relationship with men. The women portrayed in both novels pose a united front against the

opposition of the male folk. According to Lindsay Pentolfe Aegerter, “The African women in

Nervous Conditions posit a new social configuration that simultaneously respects and revises

tradition; they work toward "autonomy and cooperation" rather than "competition and

opposition” (233). The theme of sisterhood is most dominant in Nervous Conditions where the

women in Babamukuru’s household begin to question the god-like authority that Babamukuru

enjoys:

‘Have you ever seen it happen?’ she waxed ferociously and eloquently, ‘that a hearing is conducted in the absence of the accussed? Aren’t they saying that my young sister impregnated herself on purpose? ...Ehe! They are accusing Lucia. She should be there to defend herself.’ (137)

The defiance of Ma’shingayi at this point in the novel is defined through the strength of the all

women coming together to question the unfairness of Babamukuru. Even though Maiguru

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refuses to join the protest at this point, the stage is set for the eventual change in male/female

relationship in the novel. In Changes, the influence of sisterhood is felt strongly in the friendship

between Esi Sekyi and Opokuya. Their relationship represents the strong bond that can exist

outside familial ties and the therapeutic effect such a relationship gives to the participants.

Opokuya is always there with a listening ear to hear all of Esi’s troubles and aid her towards the

healing process. The bond of sisterhood in Changes is shown as a sacred one which should be

respected and not abused with Esi Sekyi’s important decision not to slip into a sexual affair with

her friend’s husband, Kubi. This proves that African women do not have to always exist in

rivalry but rather they should support one another. The supportive role of sisterhood is also felt

in Nervous Conditions with Tambu’s concern for Nyasha; Tambu is able to understand the torn

identity crisis which Nyasha suffers even though her own father, Babamukuru cannot understand

the true nature of his daughter’s malaise. This shows the inability of men to understand the

peculiar traits of the female sex and their lack of insight into the woman’s self leads to major

conflicts that arise between both genders in the novel and the African society that it depicts.

The significance of education is another prevailing motif in both novels. In Nervous Conditions,

education is portrayed as the natural right of the boy-child. Nhamo is the singular choice of

Babamukuru and he is chosen as the one that will improve the lot of his family. It is only by

Nhamo’s death that Tambu gets the privilege of being educated. This depicts a change in the

sphere of the contemporary African woman; it proves the premise that women also have high

intellectual abilities. Tambu excels in her studies and she is given a scholarship to study at the

Young Ladies College of the Sacred Heart. Education is proposed in both novels as an enabling

device which empowers the women in the novel; Esi Sekyi, Opokuya and Lucia are examples of

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women characters in Changes and Nervous Conditions that are freed from the shackles of

dominant patriarchy through the advantage of being educated and possessing lucrative careers.

Another dominant issue in both novels is the conflict that arises from the contact of tradition and

Western influences. Eustace Palmer sees the oppression of African women as ‘double

colonization’ (176). In Nervous Conditions, Ma’shingayi represents the voice of tradition against

the dominance of ‘Englishness’. Tambu’s mother bemoans the fate of her children; their

exposure to Western civilisation and the draining effect on their sense of identity and belonging.

This psychological divide is duly represented in the attitudes of Chido and Nyasha after their

stay in Britain. They become strangers to the Shona culture and tradition. The psychological

strain is more prominent in Nyasha who recedes into herself and starts exhibiting strange

tendencies; she is rude to her father and is unable to act in line with societal and cultural

expectations. The conflict between father and daughter reaches its peak when Nyasha raises her

hand against her own father; this proves the breaking point for Babamukuru who sees it as the

ultimate sacrilege. Nyasha’s psychological breakdown and her anorexia show the critical

circumstance of the contemporary African woman under the conflicting influences of tradition

and modernity. Esi Sekyi in Changes also shows the same tendency towards conflict arising

from her adherence to the constructs of modernity without achieving a balance with the

expectations of tradition. Esi is unable to submit to Oko totally but in contrast she gives in to Ali

Kondey’s charms and even agrees to become a second wife. This shows an extreme of two

opposites; Esi wants freedom to achieve the peak in her career however she still feels the urge to

have a man in her life. The voice of tradition in Changes is Nana, Esi’s grandmother. Nana is

unable to understand the desires of Esi to leave one man and become the second wife of another

man. It is significant here, that Nana who represents the preservation of tradition does not

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support Esi in her desire to leave the comforts and safety of monogamy into the crowded and not

so comfortable sphere of polygamy. Aidoo portrays polygamy as an organised system in African

epistemology which is unlike the savage portrayal of polygamy by the West as largely fraught

with disorganisation, strife and turbulence. The proper ways of taking another wife under the

dictates of tradition is properly highlighted in the refusal of Ali Kondey’s family to consent to his

marriage to Esi without the knowledge of Fusena, his first wife. This notion in the novel proves

that the African tradition is not imbued in perpetual darkness and that there are commendable

aspects of the African tradition which should be encouraged and preserved. In Nervous

Conditions, the principle of traditional African communal living is highlighted in Babamukuru’s

patriarch status as the provider of not only his immediate family but also his extended family

members.

Aidoo and Dangarembga in Changes and Nervous Conditions propose the need for a balance

between accepting the gainful additions that modernity has brought in the contemporary African

women’s sphere and also the preservation of traditional ideals present in the African cultural

values. This balance is portrayed in Changes through the character of Opokuya, who is able to

achieve success both at home and in her career as a nurse. Opokuya did not have all the comforts

she desired; she also wanted the luxury of owing a car and her desperation to do so is shown in

her readiness to buy Esi’s ramshackle car after Ali got a new car for her. However, Opokuya sees

the need for conceivable compromises in order to attribute a place for the man in her life. In

Nervous Conditions, the balance between tradition and modernity (including the press for female

liberation) is gained by Tambu who wisely keeps her peace in fiery situations while standing her

ground at other times. Tambu refuses to attend her parents’ wedding ceremony which is arranged

by Babamukuru in accordance to Christian standards. Even though, she was punished for this

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act, she remains adamant in her claim to self-assertion and self-realisation. Nyasha on the other

hand fails to achieve this balance and this ultimately leads to her psychological breakdown.

In Changes and Nervous Conditions, there is a balanced portrayal of both sexes; even though the

female characters are placed at the centre stage of action, the male characters are not depicted as

shoddy stereotypes who only act against the well-being of women. Oko, Esi’s husband is

presented as a responsible school teacher who loves his wife but is unable to maintain their

relationship because of his inability to understand the predilections of Esi’s nature and

personality. For instance, the case of marital rape which Esi accuses him of is Oko’s way of

showing his undying love and passion for his wife, Esi without the realisation that love and

passion in marriage does not depend on only one party. Kubi, Opokuya’s husband is represented

as the ideal husband that is the dream of every woman. However, to avoid the error of creating a

perfect stereotype, Aidoo inserts a suggested flaw to Kubi’s character through his near slip

towards the end of the novel; Kubi’s sexual fascination for Esi shows that he is not a perfect

figure of marital fidelity and he could fall into the caprices of unfaithfulness if the opportune

moment presents itself. Ali Kondey serves as the foil to the character of Oko and Kubi. He is the

due representation of the amorous Casanova who loves women and has the monetary means to

feed his indulgences.

Esi Sekyi at the end of the novel sees the futility of clinging on to her career without also given

equal devotion to keeping her family intact. She ends up as a ‘kept’ woman who is neither

married nor single; the relationship she has with Ali Kondey is no longer a marriage but a kind of

friendship with added privileges. Nyasha becomes confined to a psychiatric home because of her

inability to cope with the dual influences of ‘Englishness’ and traditional expectations.

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Conclusion

Aidoo and Dangarembga in their novels portray a gender consciousness which is hinged on the

unique African experience. They both portray characters that failed to achieve a balance between

their craving for freedom and the need to also align oneself within the constructs of tradition. For

Aidoo, little has changed for the African woman in her society; society still expects her to hold

particular assigned roles such mother, home maker, wife, etc. However, modernity and the

Western education it brought in its wake has caused some changes for the African woman and

given her new roles in the society such as; breadwinner, career woman, decision maker, etc.

therefore, these new roles create complexities in the male/female relationship especially in the

sphere of marriage. The shackle of male control cannot be totally removed in a marital

relationship as is shown in the Babamukuru and Maiguru’s marriage; even though Maiguru

revolts against her husband’s unfairness in using both of their incomes for his family without

consulting her and she leaves her home to show her dissent, Maiguru in obedience with cultural

norms and social expectations has no other choice than to return home with her husband when he

comes for her. The same trend is seen in Esi Sekyi’s resigning her fate into being Ali’s mistress

because she cannot do away with male companionship totally.

In Changes and Nervous Conditions, the Womanist ideal of co-existence and interdependence of

women and men in the society is encouraged as the ultimate way of creating a balanced society

which recognises the needs of both sexes; with neither trampling on the other without regard for

one another’s singular need for happiness, understanding and fulfilment.

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WORKS CITED

PRIMARY TEXTS:

Aidoo, A.A. 1991. Changes. New York, The Feminist Press

Dangarembga, T. 1988. Nervous Conditions. London, The Women’s Press.

SECONDARY TEXTS:

Barry, P. 2002. Beginning Theory: an introduction to literary and cultural theory. Second

edition. ISBN: 0719062683

Palmer, E. 2008. Of war and women, oppression and optimism: new essays on the African novel.

Africa World Press, Inc.

Kolawole, M.E.M. 1997. Womanism and the African consciousness. Africa World Press, Inc.

Aegerter, L.P. 1996. A dialectic of autonomy and community: Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous

Conditions. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature. 15.2: 231-240. Retrieved on November

18, 2011 from www.jstor.org/stable/464133

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