Patriarchy and Intersecting Black Womanhood in Postcolonial Zimbabwe: Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body

Dipolelo Magaret Makgoba; Lethabo Masha; Maletšema Ruth Emsley

doi:10.25159/1753-5387/20846

Authors

Dipolelo Magaret Makgoba University of Limpopo https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9537-8481
Lethabo Masha University of South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9409-9683
Maletšema Ruth Emsley University of Limpopo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6638-871X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/1753-5387/20846

Keywords:

African Womanism, intersectionality, marginalisation, patriarchy, post- colonialism

Abstract

Many African nations envisioned the prospects of true liberation for everyone following colonial independence. For women, this freedom promised an end to their marginalisations that surface through intersecting oppressions of sexism, racism, and classism. Through a thematic analysis of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body (2018), this article examines how being Black, female, and often poor continues to define women’s experiences in postcolonial Zimbabwe. In addition, African Womanism and intersectionality are employed as theoretical lenses with which to explore how Shona traditions and colonial legacies, such as socio-economic challenges, are portrayed in the novel as impediments to a gender-equal society. The study’s findings indicate that female characters such as the protagonist Tambudzai, Nyasha, Mrs Taka, Netsai, and Mainini Lucia remain confined by rigid gender roles, economic marginalisation, and post-independence disillusionment, which undermine their aspirations and agency. In this way, the study argues that Dangarembga demonstrates how neocolonialism and patriarchal structures jointly perpetuate women’s oppression. The significance of this research lies in its contribution to African Womanist literary scholarship in Southern Africa, and Sustainable Developmental Goal (5) 2030, by addressing the continued subjugation of African girls and women as a result of their intersectional identity. Theoretically, this study reaffirms the significance of employing African Womanism and intersectionality as interpretive perspectives on postcolonial women’s lived experiences as Black, female, and poor.

References

Aduke, A. 2019. “Colonial Legacies and African Women’s Socio-Economic Realities.” African Historical Review 51 (2): 120–138.

Arndt, S. 2000. “African Gender Trouble and African Womanism: An Interview with Chikwenye Ogunyemi and Wanjira Muthoni.” Signs 25 (3): 709–726. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3175414. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/495479

Barnes, T. 1999. “We Women Worked So Hard”: Gender, Urbanisation, and Social Reproduction in Colonial Harare, Zimbabwe, 1930–1956. Oxford: James Currey.

Becker, S., A. Fernandes, and D. Weichselbaumer. 2019. “Discrimination in Hiring Based on Potential and Realized Fertility: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment.” IZA Institute of Labor Economics Discussion Paper No. 12308. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3390298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3390298

Bıyıklar, M. A., and Y. S. Balcıoğlu. 2025. “Breaking the Silence: Women’s Reproductive Health in the Workplace through Collective Voice.” Gender, Work and Organization 32 (6): 2353–2368. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70016

Chigangaidze, R. K., A. A. Matanga, and T. R. Katsuro. 2022. “Ubuntu Philosophy as a Humanistic–Existential Framework for the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 62 (3): 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678211044554. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678211044554

Chigumadzi, P. 2015. Sweet Medicine. Seshego: Blackbird Books.

Chitando, E., ed. 2021. Innovation and Competition in Zimbabwean Pentecostalism: Megachurches and the Marketization of Religion. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350176027.ch-00I. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350176027.ch-00I

Chuku, G. 2018. “Colonialism and African Womanhood.” In The Palgrave Handbook of African Colonial and Postcolonial History, edited by M. Shanguhyia and T. Falola, 171–‍211. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59426-6_7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59426-6_7

Coly, A. A. 2019. Postcolonial Hauntologies: African Women’s Discourses of the Female Body. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfjczrh. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfjczrh

Crenshaw, K. W. 2012. “From Private Violence to Mass Incarceration: Thinking Intersectionally about Women, Race, and Social Control.” UCLA Law Review 59: 1418–‍1472.

Crenshaw, K. W. 2013a. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” In The Public Nature of Private Violence, edited by M. A. Fineman, 93–118. New York: Routledge.

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

Dangarembga, T. 2018. This Mournable Body. Minnesota: Graywolf Press.

Dangarembga, T. 2022. Black and Female. London: Faber and Faber.

Fanon, F. 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press.

Hatcher, A. M., P. Romito, M. Odero, E. A. Bukusi, M. Onono, and J. M. Turan. 2013. “Social Context and Drivers of Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Kenya: Implications for the Health of Pregnant Women.” Culture, Health and Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care 15 (4): 404–419. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2012.760205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2012.760205

Jaiyeola, E. F., and A. I. Aladegbola. 2020. “Patriarchy and Colonization: The ‘Brooder House’ for Gender Inequality in Nigeria.” Journal of Research on Women and Gender 10: 3–22. https://repository.crawforduniversity.edu.ng/server/api/core/bitstreams/d2658d26-f6d4-4b1a-bbfc-7df816b13a87/content.

Janmohamed, S. Z. 2010. Love in a Head Scarf: Muslim Woman Seeks the One. Boston: Beacon Press.

Jenkins, K. 2017. “Rape Myths and Domestic Abuse Myths as Hermeneutical Injustices.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 34 (2): 191–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12174

Johnson-Hanks, J. 2006. Uncertain Honor: Modern Motherhood in an African Crisis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kahf, M. 2006. The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. New York: PublicAffairs.

Katembo, A. 2015. “Reducing Cases of Gender Based Violence in Mashonaland Central Province: Zimbabwe.” PhD diss., Durban University of Technology.

Lihiru, V. M. 2024. “Domestic and International Law Contradictions in Zimbabwe’s Gender Quota System.” African Human Rights Law Journal 24 (1): 127–146. https://doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2024/v24n1a6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2024/v24n1a6

Makombe, S. P. M., and Z. G. Mvere. 2025. “Post-War Reintegration Challenges Faced by Women Freedom Fighters: The Case Study of Gweru, Midlands, Zimbabwe.” Indiana Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 6 (6): 36–41. https://indianapublications.com/articles/IJHSS_6(6)_36-41_686bd6b44d4557.94027733.pdf.

Marazanye, K. 2016. “An Analysis of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment in Zimbabwe.” PhD diss., Stellenbosch University.

Mareva, R., J. Gonye, and C. Rubaya. 2013. “Wither Teaching in Zimbabwe? Teachers’ and Secondary School Pupils’ Views on the Teaching Profession.” International Journal of English and Education 2 (3): 501–516.

Masha, L., and M. Mogoboya. 2024. “Female Sexualities under a Patriarchal Microscope: An Interrogation of Buchi Emecheta’s Double Yoke.” Journal of Literary Studies 40 (1): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.25159/1753-5387/16769. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/1753-5387/16769

Mavengano, E. 2024. “The Semantics of Gender, Politics, and Religion in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body.” HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 80 (2): a9030. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9030. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9030

Mhazo, T., and V. Thebe. 2021. “‘Hustling out of Unemployment’: Livelihood Responses of Unemployed Young Graduates in the City of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 56 (3): 628–642. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909620937035. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909620937035

Moyo, K. G. 2018. “Coping Strategies amongst Ex-Combatants: The Case of Ex ZPRA Ex-Combatants in Bulawayo.” International Journal of Politics and Good Governance 8 (8.1): 1–19.

Munyai, A. 2020. “African Renaissance: Effects of Colonialism on Africa’s Natural Resources and the Right to Development.” Journal for Juridical Science 45 (1): 1–27. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/jjs/article/view/4423/3792. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18820/24150517/JJS45.i1.1

Musingafi, M., P. M. Mukhothu, and M. Musi. 2024. “Matrilineality, Women Power and the Matriarchs of Precolonial Southern Africa.” In From History to Herstory: Culture, Gender and Religion in Archival Material in Southern Africa, edited by Leshota, P. M. Musingafi, I. Mokhele, and M. Mukamane, 69–84. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66917-0_3

Ndhlovu, N., and C. Wielenga. 2023. “Unequal Access to Redress for Women Ex-Combatants in Zimbabwe: An Intersectional Analysis.” African Identities 21 (4): 824–839. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2021.1976105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2021.1976105

Ndlovu, I. 2016. “Politically Induced Economic Precarity, Syncretism and Female Representations in Chigumadzi’s Sweet Medicine.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 30 (3): 96–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2016.1251227. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2016.1251227

Ngalesoni, O. L., A. R. Msendo, and G. A. Mwakifwamba. 2025. “The Dual Burden of Women Entrepreneurs. A Case Study of Mbuyuni Village, Monduli.” African Journal of Social Issues 8 (1): 59–68. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajosi.v8i1.5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/ajosi.v8i1.5

Nikiema, P. 2024. “Francophone African Literature and the Question of Interlocking Identities: An Intersectional Approach to Literary Analysis.” The French Review 98 (2): 69–85. https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2024.a947601. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2024.a947601

Ogunyemi, C. O. 1985. “Womanism: The Dynamics of the Contemporary Black Female Novel in English.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 11 (1): 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1086/494200. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/494200

Ogunyemi, C. O. 1996. Africa Wo/man Palava: The Nigerian Novel by Women. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Okafor, S. O. 2020. “Patriarchy and Women Plight in Africa: The Consequences of Living in Passivity.” Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology 17 (2): 57–74.

Otieno, D. O. 2019. “Narrating the Female Body in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body.” MA diss., University of Nairobi. https://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/108598/Otieno_Narrating%20The%20Female%20Body%20In%20Tsitsi%20Dangarembga%E2%80%99S%20This%20Mournable%20Body.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Petroni, S., M. Steinhaus, N. S. Fenn, K. Stoebenau, and A. Gregowski 2017. “New Findings on Child Marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Annals of Global Health 83 (3–4): 781–790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2017.09.001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2017.09.001

Pfalzgraf, M. 2021. “Flânerie in Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainty of Hope.” Tydskrif vir letterkunde 58 (2): 18–28. https://doi.org/10.17159/tl.v58i2.8403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/tl.v58i2.8403

Poozhikkal, S., and Z. M. Kunhi. 2024. “Decolonising the Modest Dress: Intersectionality, Agency, and Choice in Diasporic Muslim Women’s Fiction.” Ishal Paithrkam 40: 41–54.

Rodney, W. 2018. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London: Verso.

Sani, A. M. 2023. “Objectification, Rejection, Suppression, and Feminine Resistance in African Novel.” Minna Journal of Educational Studies 8 (1): 10–17.

Settler, F., and M. H. Engh. 2015. “The Black Body in Colonial and Postcolonial Public Discourse in South Africa.” Alternation 14: 126–148.

Tagwira, V. 2006. The Uncertainty of Hope. Harare: Weaver Press.

Taiwo, O. S. 2019. “African Womanism as a Response to Simone De Beauvoir’s Existential Feminism.” PhD diss., University of Ibadan. https://pgsdspace.ictp.it/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/1060/taiwo.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

World Economic Forum. 2024. Global Gender Gap 2024: Insight Report June 2024. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Accessed June 20, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2024/.