abstract: Oral history methodologies are used to conduct fifteen interviews with Martha Akesi Ndaarko Sennie-Tumi over the course of three months. Research responded to the following questions: How do African women defy master narratives? When do African women defy master narratives and move from the margins to the center? What roles do African women take on to defy master narratives and why? To what extent does the concept of malezile (women who stand firm) address human rights? Twelve stories of defiance (three of which are folktales) are analyzed for recurring themes, concepts and motifs. Research showed that African women defy master narratives when the system worked to their detriment through the Nana Esi archetype. The stories also showed that women adopt nontraditional roles during defiance by using whatever means available to them at the time of defiance. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Interdisciplinary Studies 2012

Fictions written between 1939 and 2005 by indigenous and white (post)colonial women writers who emerge from an African/European cultural experience form the focus of this study. Their voyages into the European diasporic space in Africa within the context of their texts are important since they speak of how African women's literature develops from, and is situated in relation to colonialism. African literature constitutes one facet of the new literatures in English from formerly colonised countries. However, the accomplishments of indigenous writer Grace Ogot are eclipsed by the critical acclaim received by her male counterparts, whilst Elspeth Huxley, Barbara Kimenye and Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, who emanate from Western culture but adopt an African perspective, are not accommodated by the `expatriate literature' genre. Hence, indigenous and white (post)colonial women's narratives by authors issuing from an African/European cultural experience are brought together to foreground European influence as an apparent phenomenon common to both categorieso f writers, with consequencesfo r the representation of gender, identity, culture and the `Other'. The selected texts are set in Kenya and Uganda, and a main concern is with the extent to which the works are impacted upon by setting and intercultural influences. However, this thesis argues that the `African' woman's creation of textuality is at once the formulation and expression of female individualities and a transgression of boundaries. Furthermore, Kimenye and Macgoye's children's literature illustrates the representation and configuration of a voice and identity for the female `Other' and writer, which enables a re-negotiation of identity and subsequently a crossing of borders. No critical study combines indigenous and white settler women's fiction written from an African perspective and therefore this study extends current scholarly knowledge. Whilst the combination of texts together with the disparate (post)colonial backgrounds is unique, the study of Kimenye and Macgoye's African children's narratives in particular breaks new ground since there is currently no critical comparative study pertaining to indigenous and white postcolonial women's children's literature with an African perspective

This study consists of a comparative analysis of two novels (Une si longue lettre and Un chant écarlate) written by the famous female African writer Mariama Bâ and their English translations (So long a letter and Scarlet song) by Modupe Bodé-Thomas and Dorothy Blair. Mariama Bâ’s texts shed light on the different ways in which African women are oppressed by tradition and religion deeply rooted in a patriarchal and post-colonial society. The story of her own life serves as a basis for an effective analysis of both novels in order to determine the extent of her Feminist orientation in her texts, as well as to evaluate the possibilities of female emancipation based on the choices made by her female characters. This study further examines the translation strategies present in the English rendition of Bâ’s novels. Translation involves conveying a message from a source to a target text in a manner that expresses the same message as the original. It also bridges the language and cultural barrier by facilitating understanding between different worlds. In translating Bâ’s novels, the aim is to respect and convey her message of Feminism to an international non-Francophone audience. In order to evaluate whether the translations have achieved the objective of conveying her message, this study will attempt to analyse the translational choices made by each translator as well as to ascertain the success of those choices. This analysis is guided by existing Feminist translation theory. Emphasis is placed on Feminism in general and African Feminism in particular to ascertain Bâ’s own Feminist orientation and how this impacted her writing. This is done firstly by giving a brief synopsis of the two novels. Subsequently, traces of Feminism are identified in both novels, followed by an analysis of the source texts. This is done by applying descriptive models outlined within the framework of descriptive translation studies to compare the source and target texts. This study reveals that despite the many translation strategies that are available, literal/word for word and semantic translations are predominant in the English renditions of Bâ’s novels. The use of these strategies differed in the two translations in question. While Bodé-Thomas preferred a more traditional, literal/word for word translation in her rendition of Une si longue lettre in order to maintain the simplicity of the text and preserve the African aesthetic which is the essence and distinguishing feature of Bâ’s work, Blair opted for a semantic translation which turned out to be an important strategy in her English rendition of Un chant écarlate. Taking the different translational strategies used by Modupe Bodé-Thomas and Dorothy Blair as a case in point, this study proposes that since for the most part, Mariama Bâ’s writing in a European language (French) captures the African content and form and portrays her Feminist beliefs in both her novels, the job of both translators is simply to carry over the same African content and form from the source language to the target language in a similar manner that expresses Bâ’s Feminist beliefs. Key words: Mariama Bâ, Feminism, African Feminism, Feminist translation, descriptive translation studies, post-colonialism, translation studies, autobiography, Dorothy Blair, Modupe Bodé-Thomas, source text, target text, Une si longue lettre, Un chant écarlate, Scarlet song, So long a letter / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Modern European Languages / MA / Unrestricted

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Through the life story narratives of Ethiopian women activists, this research explores the journey of Ethiopian women activists during three political and historical periods (1955–1974; 1974–1991; 1991–2015). Thus, the study proposes a new perspective on the forms of Ethiopian women’s activism and subsequently the different types of feminism emerging from their narratives. Through examination of how the activists reflect on, reconstruct and give meaning to their life stories, this research unravels that their activism is informed by feminist principles. It also exposes that it is shaped by a long history of resistance to patriarchy, which enabled women in traditional Ethiopia to negotiate a certain level of “autonomy and liberty”. Contrary to the general expectation, the research demonstrates that the process of modernization (read: westernization) came with its own structure based on western patriarchy, and reinforced local patriarchy. In this new, formalized patriarchy, the rights that women had negotiated through their resistance in earlier times were diminished. This study on women activists, categorized for the purpose of this research as pioneers, revolutionaries and negotiators, suggests that Ethiopian women activists have since adopted different forms of engagement that tend to improve the social, cultural, economic and political conditions of Ethiopian women. Consequently, I argue that, while Ethiopian women’s activism and feminism is firmly embedded in the history of resistance of previous generations of Ethiopian women, the form of activism varies according to the political and historical context in which the activists negotiate and adapt the way they act.

Gender equality and ensuring the equal rights of women and girls is the fifth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal set for 2030. Access to quality reproductive healthcare and information is a critical aspect of gender equality, including access to information about family planning and contraceptives. However, there are many barriers that impact a woman’s access to contraception in rural sub-Saharan Africa, such as financial constraints, supply shortages, stigma, and misconceptions. Through and African Feminist lens, this study examines how these perceived barriers intersect with each other, and how they negatively impact women’s access to family planning and their perceived value of contraceptives in Luweero, Uganda. This qualitative study analyzed data collected from healthcare workers at one private clinic and one public clinic that offer family planning services in four focus group discussions in Luweero, Central Region, Uganda. Two focus group discussions were held in each clinic. Coded transcripts were analyzed using a reflexive methodology through an African Feminist lens. Most of the responses indicated that financial constraints experienced either by the clinic or the women significantly impact access family planning. Healthcare workers and Village Health Teams (VHTs) reported that funding constraints impact their ability to reach the clients with the resources they need in the rural areas, and clients in rural areas are often not able to afford the cost of family planning methods, especially when considered with the hidden costs of contraception. Social barriers were also discussed, and the participants explained that barriers such as stigma, misconceptions, lack of knowledge, religiosity and cultural values impact women’s motivation or ability to access contraceptive methods. Side effects also have a significant role to play in women’s ability or motivation to navigate through these perceived social barriers. Participants determined that increased funding for transportation for VHTs, consistent funding for free contraception, and expanded sensitization efforts that particularly target men would be some of the most impactful methods they can adapt to address some of these barriers. This study demonstrates that increasing women’ access to contraception in rural Uganda requires increased state funding for sensitization efforts and subsidized contraceptive methods. Social barriers can be more deeply understood and addressed by the international development community through an African Feminist lens, which explores modern contraceptives in the Ugandan context in a more culturally, socially and historically conscientious way.

The struggles with patriarchy in the marriages of highly educated married black women are not clearly defined by research, leading to generalisations that all women experience, interpret and resist patriarchy in a uniform way. Written from an African feminist and symbolic interactionist perspective this qualitative study sought to investigate the cognitive processes of highly educated married black women that develop from their lived experiences, interpretations and resistance with regard to patriarchy in their marriages. Data were collected through (auto)biographical narrative essays, semi-structured interviews and observations and analysed using thematic data analysis. The findings indicate that highly educated married black women experience, interpret and resist patriarchy in diverse ways, highlighting three clusters of these women – the liberal, the conformist and the secretive. Their self-concept and identity are more likely to be shaped by their social experiences and interactions with their husbands and the extended family than interactions in their professions. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)

Submitted by Valquíria Barbieri (kikibarbi@hotmail.com) on 2017-06-20T21:04:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Sheila Dias da Silva.pdf: 1035547 bytes, checksum: d53a682fe0c296fe17f6a18fc591c88a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jordan (jordanbiblio@gmail.com) on 2017-06-23T15:34:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Sheila Dias da Silva.pdf: 1035547 bytes, checksum: d53a682fe0c296fe17f6a18fc591c88a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-23T15:34:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Sheila Dias da Silva.pdf: 1035547 bytes, checksum: d53a682fe0c296fe17f6a18fc591c88a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-18 / Yvonne Vera é uma das romancistas africanas que mais se destacaram no cenário internacional da literatura de língua inglesa. A ficção é o veículo utilizado por ela para articular a experiência feminina reprimida e silenciada em seu país. Vera nos apresenta a sociedade zimbabuense, sob o olhar das mulheres, ou seja, é através de personagens femininas, acompanhadas por narradores provavelmente do mesmo sexo, que vivenciamos seus enredos e tramas. A escrita de Vera surge da necessidade de inverter as estruturas da opressão e dos estereótipos coloniais impostos às mulheres negras, o que reforça seu papel como uma escritora com ideais feministas. Em Without a name (1994), romance que analisamos nesta pesquisa, ela narra a trajetória de Mazvita, uma mulher que resiste a diversos tipos de violência, como, por exemplo, o estupro. Mazvita tenta superar o trauma e buscar um futuro melhor para si, mas é possível perceber a impossibilidade de esperança num cenário repleto de desolação causado pela guerra de libertação e pela opressão patriarcal africana. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a construção da resistência feminina nesse romance por meio da investigação da fragmentação corporal da personagem. Pretendemos estabelecer relações entre suas possibilidades de reação e agência e o estado alquebrado de seu corpo, ao mesmo tempo em que buscamos tecer considerações a respeito de suas conexões com o corpo social de sua coletividade. Também examinamos os modos como o feminismo africano é articulado nessa obra. Ao final de nossa análise, concluímos que, nesse romance, Vera elabora uma narrativa de aniquilação, retratando as tentativas de resistência e de superação da personagem como arruinadas em paralelismo com a debilitação de seu corpo e a desesperança do cenário em que está inserida. / Yvonne Vera is one of Africa’s most outstanding novelists in the international scene of the English language literature. Fiction is the vehicle used by her to articulate female experience repressed and silenced in her country. Vera portrays Zimbabwean society through women’s perspective, usually employing female narrators to tell her female characters’ stories. Vera’s writing arises from the need to reverse the structures of oppression and colonial stereotypes imposed on black women, reinforcing her role as a writer with feminist ideals. In Without a name (1994), the novel that is analyzed in this study, Vera brings the story of Mazvita, a woman who resists many types of violence, such as rape. Mazvita tries to overcome the trauma and seek a better future for her, but it is possible to realize the impossibility of hope in a world full of desolation caused by the war of liberation and African patriarchal oppression. The objective of this paper is to analyze the construction of female resistance in the novel through the investigation of the character’s body fragmentation. Some relationships between her possibilities of agency and reaction and the broken state of her body are also established in the current analysis. Similarly her connections with the social body of her community, as well as the ways in which African feminism is portrayed in this novel, also come under scrutiny. At the end of the analysis, it is possible to imply that Vera elaborates a narrative of annihilation in this novel, depicting the character’s attempts of resistance and overcoming as ruined in parallel with the weakening of her body and the hopelessness of her setting.

This study focuses on the role of women in African cinema – in terms of female directors working in the African film industries as well as the representation of women in African film. My research specifically focuses on francophone West African and lusophone and anglophone Southern African cinemas (in particular post-apartheid South African cinema). This research is necessary and significant because African women are underrepresented in theoretical work as well as in the practice of African cinema. The small corpus of existing theoretical and critical studies on the work of female African filmmakers clearly shows that African women succeed in producing films against tremendous odds. The emergence of female directors in Africa is an important but neglected trend which requires more dedicated research. The pioneering research of African-American film scholar Beti Ellerson is exemplary in this regard, as she has, since the early 2000s, initiated a new field of academic study entitled African Women Cinema Studies. My own research is situated within this emerging field and aims to make a contribution to it. The absence of women in public societal spheres is often regarded as an indicator of areas where societies need to change. In the same sense the socio-political and cultural advancements of women are indicators of how societies have progressed towards improved living conditions for all. Because the African woman can be viewed as doubly oppressed, firstly by Black patriarchal culture and secondly by Western colonising forces, it is essential that the liberation of African women includes an opportunity for women to verbalise and demonstrate their own vision of women’s roles for the future. The study analyses a large corpus of films through exploring notions of nationalism and post/neo-colonialism in African societies; issues related to the female body such as health, beauty and sexuality; female identity, emancipation and African feminism in the past and present; the significance of traditional cultural practices versus the consequences and effects of modernity; and the interplay between the individual and the community in urban as well as rural African societies. Female filmmakers in Africa are increasingly claiming the right to represent these issues in their own ways and to tell their own stories. The methods they choose to do this and the products of their labours are the focus of this study. Ultimately, the study attempts to formulate more complex models for the analysis of African women’s filmmaking practices, in tracing the plurality of a female aesthetics and the multiplicity of thematic approaches in African women’s filmmaking.