SAGE Open | |
Cultured to Fail? Representations of Gender-Entangled Urban Women in Two Short Stories by Valerie Tagwira: | |
Oliver Nyambi1  | |
关键词: feminism; gender; illocutionary force; Zimbabwean crisis; | |
DOI : 10.1177/2158244014543787 | |
学科分类:社会科学、人文和艺术(综合) | |
来源: Sage Journals | |
【 摘 要 】
There is a subtle yet discernible connection between the post-2000 political power struggle and the gender struggle in Zimbabwe. In both cases, a patriarchal power hierarchy shaped by tradition and history is perpetuated and justified as the mark of the nationâs unique identity. In cultural, political, and economic spheres, the status of most urban Zimbabwean women is still reflected as inferior to that of most men. During this economic and political crisis period, the prevailing gender power-relations evolved into gendered appraisals of the impact of the crisis and this created the potential for rather universal and androcentric conclusions. The consequent eclipse of female-centric voices of the political and gender struggle tends to suppress womenâs perspectives, consequently inhibiting a gender-inclusive imagining of the nation. This article argues that discourses about gender struggle in Zimbabweâs post-2000 crisis have not sufficiently addressed the question of space; that is, the significance of the oppressed womenâs physical and social space in shaping their grievances and imaginings of exit routes. Similarly, the article argues that representations of this historic period in literary fiction have accentuated the wider political and economic struggles at the expense of other (especially gender) struggles, thereby rendering them inconsequential. Using two short stories by Valerie Tagwira (âMainini Graceâs Promiseâ and âThe Journeyâ), the article explores the storiesâ focalization of gender-entangled women in an urban space to understand the literary evocation of the condition of women caught up in a crisis in urban settings.
【 授权许可】
CC BY
【 预 览 】
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RO201902024066549ZK.pdf | 84KB | download |