““Literature” can also imply an artistic use of words for the sake of art alone. …traditionally, Africans do not radically separate art from teaching. Rather than write or sing for beauty in itself, African writers, taking their cue from oral literature, use beauty to help communicate important truths and information to society. Indeed, an object is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and the communities it helps to build.(Joseph)”
Literature which is specific to a particular location or people tries to encompass the culture, societal norms, values, religion or atleast most of the aspects of the lifestyle of these people. African literature mainly consists of written works, plays and more than a few movies. The history of Africa (and some present) is stained with colonialism. The colonization of Africa is a three stage event. It includes classical antiquity, Arab conquest and European colonialism. Even though in modern literary works, the most frequently cited is the third stage, the European colonialism, but as far as language goes, many African countries still have traces of their colonizers language. A common feature in the African literature about colonization of different countries by another variety of countries happens to be the portrayal of a patriarchal society. Buchi Emecheta of Nigeria, Tsitsi Dangarembga of Zimbabwe, Miriama Ba of Senegal- three women from different parts of Africa have given words to similar conditions of women from Africa. A discussion of the African countries is void without a discussion of gender discrimination. And therefore, even though the dominant theme in African literature is colonialism and its effects on the African societies, the discussion of gender plays a major role in localizing most of the texts. As Gilian Gorle reiterates:
“Since many postcolonial texts are set in traditionally patriarchal societies, in which boys are thought more worthy than girls of formal education, any discussion of language and power must include gender politics...(Gorle)”
Women, more often than not, have had a side role in African Literature, or in the words of Charles C. Fonchingong, marginalized. They were mainly allotted the role of a mother or a wife but always in the context of a woman helping the head of the family, whether as a mother providing an heir, or a wife taking care of house affairs and proving worthy in bed. As if the roles weren’t demeaning enough, the cultural norms and traditions surrounding these roles are themselves a definition of oppression. Women were portrayed as more of a commodity than a self aware human being and this was actualized in various plays where the daughter had to be married at an early age so the family could use the bride money to send the son for education. In other cases any mother not being able to give birth to a son (heir in a patriarchal society) was looked down upon, banished and in severe cases, punished. And this was still preferable than a sterile woman.
In Wole Soyinka’s Madmen and Specialists, old women were something of a religious authority and hence “vulnerable to evil”, which is why they needed to be kept subdued in their place and under continuous watch in the society of post colonial Africa(Fonchingong). Domestic violence is a recurring structure in the literary devices personifying African culture. It must be noted that most of these novels and plays end on a rather helpless note for the females.
As we move further on the timeline these roles take a turn for the better, mostly in the works depicting times after the colonial rule of Africa. In the Poems of Black Africa, females are shown to have a more engaging role and a better spotlight on the stage of literature. Some works captured the motherhood of the African woman on a more subtle and kind note then the subservient oppressed woman confined to the four walls of her house doomed only to reproduce. And in some cases the sexuality of the African woman was glorified as a “community builder” and rather a giver of life, the constant in the circle of life. Moreover, female characters in novels have also been seen to take a stand for themselves against the oppressive patriarchal society. Because of colonialism, women felt they needed empowerment. This notion was furthered by the gender biases present in Africa’s cultural norms. Thus they sought escape from the mainstream and strained hard against the dual binds of being a woman and black. They employed methods like education and growing extra crop for sale to work their way out.
In contrast African males have had a wide variety of roles in African literary works. Due to the marginalization of female roles in early African literary works, males had the centre stage to them for a considerable time. The projection of the male as a dominant feature, violent, unfeeling and ruthless was seen as necessary at that time. So, most male characters are shown as strong, independent and self-made in most of the post colonial based literary works. This showed or at least pointed subtly towards Africa’s will to be liberated. The point of such endeavors was to portray Africa’s prowess to self rule. The male figure was a sort of an analogy. The head of the house or the chief of a settlement built the image of leadership. And leadership was intended to look bold in the face of calamity. Hence the propagation of the male figure as the authority on all fronts, whether domestic or political.
Colonialism forced the then celebrated writers to portray the need for Africa’s sovereignty to be preserved. To re-institute the dignity of the black man, writers like Achebe used the strength and the virility of the African male to highlight “macho” masculinity of the leadership. Be it son, brother, father or husband, the male in the family was always given the authoritative role. “His” rights were always given precedence over that of his sister or wife. Emecheta is seen to speak against such a male dominant society. The following excerpt subliminally paints an accurate picture of the roles males played,
“The good woman, in Achebe’s portrayal drinks the dregs after her husband. In the arrow of god, when the husband is beating his wife, the other women stand around saying it’s enough. In his view, that kind of subordinate woman is the good woman.(Fonchingong)”
These roles, due to their assertiveness also aid in drawing a rather dark picture of African males. Supported by tradition and customs, the dominating role of the male has often trodden over the timid females of Africa. Consequently the males enjoyed more rights than the female gender. These rights included, but were not limited to, the right to education, free will to marry, to bathe first, to eat first etc. This inherent disparity between the genders was so strong that when a son was born, the mother was celebrated and the day was one of rejoicing. Whereas, if a daughter was born, the day was one of mourning and the mother was shunned for bringing shame to the family. The chauvinist stronghold is apparent in the play “The trials of brother Jero” where all Chume needs to beat his wife is the consent of a fraud prophet, who is also a male. Because of this patriarchal society men inherently believed it was their right to silence their women how so ever they wished. And in so doing, they also believed any woman to silently endure to be the “good” woman.
Because of colonialism, women felt that they needed empowerment because the gender inequality became more evident, and thus they started seeking escapes from societal norms and tried to break free from the bind of being a woman. The obvious asked question is how colonialism ended up at the focal point. Colonialism is the reason African authors took up literary arms against the foreign invaders. In these arms was the notion that the African man is the capable self sustaining being deserving of sovereignty. In that women were shunned into “the library junkyard of African literature”. Hence, they used methods like education to prove themselves strong. Where in some places they succeeded in this first step, they later found themselves not knowing where to go. Like in Nervous Conditions, we see that Maiguru’s education does not give her the leverage to independence as Babamukuru’s wife. While conforming in her role as the good, happy wife, but nonetheless angry at her dependent status, she passively accepts her husband’s control of her financial resources to maintain his extended family. However, she later negotiates her position within patriarchy by temporarily walking out of her marriage and then arrives at a compromise that allows her a measure of independence from her husband. When Maiguru walked out of her marriage, she went to her brother’s and this shows the conflict and indecision of the colonized African woman where she wants to break free from the patriarchy but knows that she will need the support of a male to even try so. And in most literary writings we see that the author takes no stand as to what these women achieved and rather leave it on the reader to judge the outcomes of the decisions that the female characters took.
It is apparent from the aforementioned that gender bias was a prevalent part of the African culture and hence a crucial part in African literature. Women and men were not equals and their roles in literature and theatre screamed that theme. Although old mistakes were rectified and that too after an era of pre colonial masculinity, examples of inequality are still plastered across the pages of black history. The perpetrator of this (albeit not the sole one) is none other than tradition. The strong social and cultural norms of the African patriarchal society ensured this cycle of never-ending oppression of women. It was a cycle because any woman of an unorthodox nature was silenced with physical force, and if not physical then economical and psychological. When Adah, a famous female African character tries to live the dream of a writer, her husband destroys her work, forcing her into depression, and this was after she was physically reminded of her place. The institution of marriage must also not escape the careful eye of scrutiny here. Marriage, a symbol of love, hope and propagation of life was no more than another prison for these women. From birth they were brainwashed into believing that since they were born a female, it was their right to be subdued, dictated and even manhandled in case of an error. And marriage was no different. Beating was as much a part of their culture as any. Any sterile woman was banished. Any woman unwilling to do as her husband pleased had the right to be subject to domestic violence. It is then no surprise when Judith Newton and Deborah Rosenfelt call marriage the “intersection of multiple oppression”.
Yet the misgivings of man went unnoticed, ignored or simply as his right to being a man. In the play “the lion and the jewel”, when the chief tricks the girl into bed with him and spoils her, no one had the courage to stand up to the chief. In the works of Achebe the “tyranny” of man drips from each page. African women were more of a commodity then a human in the sense, the living wives of a deceased man were inherited by his living relatives. The daughter was married off early in age to pay so that the bride money could be used to pay for the sons’ education. Years of such treatment had pushed the female mind frame into that of a creature accepting of all that happened to and around her.
This all brings us to the question of why this is so. How come the situation degenerated so much? Why was effort put into it so late? For this we will have to go far back on the timeline into precolonial Africa. Here the woman was a symbol of hope, a nurturer, giver of health. She was the pinnacle of reproduction and her honor of motherhood was unparalleled in nature. But then struck colonialism, the dignity of man and woman alike lost in the blood and sweat of slavery. African theater shifted focus to re-instituting the lost self esteem of the pride lands. Dragged to the middle of the stage was the strength of Africa, the masculine man full of virility. Unabashedly emotionless, capable, driven, forceful. All in all, a formidable entity not to be messed with. Lost in the twisted definition of this power was the residual dignity of the lady of Africa.
But that is not the only reason. The traditions of the African society did not agree with globalization. The society was after all patriarchal in its roots; hence the first people to be educated were males. That too around the time of colonialism. As Achebe says in his famous words, “every writer is the product of his age”. So from a patriarchal society the first authors were males in a time that supposedly called for male dominance, and a show of Africa’s power. Combined, all of these factors ensured a very sidelined role of women in the early works of African literature.
However it must be noted that collective efforts were made into rectifying and redefining the female role in African literature. After the feminist movement, most celebrated chauvinist authors are reassessing their earlier works, and more female authors take a stronger female protagonist voice in their writings. The newer works portray women in many different capacities. As leaders in God’s Bits of Wood by Sembene. As an independent woman, Gathony, who can exercise her free will in I Will Marry When I Want. In the Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta, Adah fights against the pressures of poverty, patriarchy, marriage and social customs that assail her. It is worth noting that Achebe moves from the minor role women assume in his earlier novels (Things Fall Apart for instance) to playing a central role in shaping and mediating the realms of power in Anthills of the Savannah. Beatrice is the moral conscience, especially, in a society where to use Achebe’s words, “intellectuals are vaporized”(Fonchingong).
The struggle of the post colonial African society in rebuilding its image as a strong people who are able to rule themselves brought with it a severity in gender inequality. And the process of proving prowess began from home. But with increasing awareness amongst the people, a sense of urgency was attached to the idea of empowering women in the society. And what better way to do so than to present it to the people in the form of a novel or a play? Gender roles were redefined. Now, women are not just commodities to prove the masculinity of males but rather have a voice of their own, an influence of their own. The boundaries of gender roles were erased. But the still existent conflict of where to draw the new boundaries or whether to draw them at all is beautifully described by Achebe:
…we all know that a man is the head of the family . . .
A child belongs to its fatherland and not to his motherland, and yet we say ‘Nneka’ ‘Mother is Supreme ‘!’ Why is that? (Achebe)
