Empowerment or Delusion?: The Shona Novel and Women Emancipation

Abstract

One of the topical debates in Zimbabwe today has been how to extricate and raise women from the disparaged image and marginalised position they have held and continue to hold in society. Women, church organisations, legislators and writers continue to push for the emancipation of the female gender. Using the Africana Womanist literary theory, this article examines Shona writers’ contribution to the efforts by analysing what they perceive as women’s problems, the underlying causes and the possible solutions. It focuses on Makayi’s Makudo Ndomamwe (2004) and Mutasa’s Sekai: Minda Tave Nayo (2005). The article observes that whereas the writers identify the nature of women’s problems, they unfortunately fail to examine the real underlying causes to those problems and hence, the solutions they suggest do not satisfactorily tally with reality. In light of this, the hoped-for emancipation largely remains a pipe-dream.

Opsomming

Een van die aktuele debatte wat in Zimbabwe gevoer word, is hoe om vroue op te hef en te bevry van aftakeling en die gemarginaliseerde posisie wat hulle in die samelewing beklee. Vroue, kerkorganisasies, wetgewers en skrywers beywer hulle steeds vir die emansipasie van die vroulike geslag. Hierdie artikel ondersoek Shona-skrywers se bydrae tot emansipasiepogings aan die hand van die Africana Womanist literêre teorie, en ontleed die probleme wat hulle as vroueprobleme beskou, die onderliggende oorsake van dié probleme en moontlike oplossings. Dit fokus op Makayi se Makudo Ndomamwe (2004) en Mutasa se Sekai: Minda Tave Nayo (2005). Die artikel merk op dat skrywers wel die aard van vroueprobleme identifiseer, maar dat hulle ongelukkig nie daarin slaag om die ware onderliggende oorsake van dié probleme te ondersoek nie. Die oplossings waarmee hulle vorendag kom, hou dus nie voldoende verband met die werklikheid nie. In die lig hiervan is die emansipasie waarop daar gehoop word steeds ’n hersenskim.