“Breakthroughs”: Engaging Literary “Voices” of Women Writers from the Southern African Region

Abstract

The aim of this article is to critically engage women’s oral and literary productions from the southern Africa region. This article is christened “breakthroughs” for several reasons. First, it should be taken as a major breakthrough for women of southern Africa to have grouped together and speak with one “voice” by offering new and “fresh” ways of writing a variety of histories and narratives against the backdrop of the suffocating discourses of colonialism, neocolonialism, patriarchy, racism and sexism. The second breakthrough is derived from the desire of women to redress the imbalance in southern African literary and historical anthologies and accounts, given that writing and performing were and still are generally associated with men. Thus, writing and performance in this article are taken as “political” statements that women are making in the process of telling their stories rather than remaining cloistered in male-sanctioned discourses. The third breakthrough is located within the Pan-African spirit informing the “Women Writing Africa Project”, which draws exclusively from women’s experiences in West Africa, North Africa, East and southern Africa. Although this article purposively sampled the literary works of some women included in Volume I of the project, it is hoped that the analysis of the selected literary works shall be treated as one of the “major breakthroughs” in which works written “only” by women are brought under the academic spotlight.

 Opsomming

Die doel van hierdie artikel is om krities in gesprek te tree met vroue se mondelinge en literêre produksies uit die Suider-Afrikaanse streek. Die titel maak om verskeie redes melding van “deurbrake”. Eerstens moet dit as ’n groot deurbraak vir vroue van Suider-Afrika beskou word dat hulle ’n groep gevorm het en met een “stem” praat deur nuwe en “vars” maniere van skryf aan te bied vir verskeie geskiedenisse en narratiewe teen die agtergrond van die versmorende diskoerse van kolonialisme, neokolonialisme, patriargie, rassisme and seksisme. Die tweede deurbraak spruit uit die begeerte van vroue om die wanbalans in Suider-Afrikaanse literêre en historiese bloemlesings en vertellings te herstel in die lig daarvan dat skryf en opvoer oor die algemeen met mans geassosieer was en steeds word. Skryf en opvoer word dus in hierdie artikel gesien as “politieke” stellings wat vroue maak in die proses om hul verhale te vertel eerder as om gekluister te bly in manlik gesanksioneerde diskoerse. Die derde deurbraak is geleë in die Pan-Afrika-gees waardeur die “Women Writing Africa Project” besiel word, en wat uitsluitlik put uit vroue se ervarings in Wes-Afrika, Noord-Afrika, Oos- en Suider-Afrika. Hoewel daar vir hierdie artikel doelbewus voorbeelde geneem is uit die literêre werk van sommige vroue wat ingesluit is in Volume I van die projek, hoop ons dat die ontleding van die geselekteerde literêre werke gesien sal word as een van die “groot deurbrake” waarin werke wat “slegs” deur vroue geskryf is in die akademiese soeklig geplaas word.