The central assumption of this study is that the awareness of a historically
constructed, culturally sanctioned condition of subalternity is at the heart of the fictional
production of Francophone African women writers. Subalternity here is viewed as a
narrative and spatial continuum inside which African women have to negotiate issues
relating to subjecthood and identity, both marked by gender and colonialism. Various
definitions of 'the subaltern' are relevant, ranging from Antonio Gramsci's to those of the
South Asian Subaltern Studies group, and to John Beverley's and Fredric Jameson's
discussions. Jameson's emphasis on subalternity as "the feelings of mental inferiority nad
habits of subservience and obedience which... develop in situations of domination - most
dramatically in the experience of colonized peoples" (Jameson, 1981) is crucial, because
it demonstrates the constructedness of that ontological condition.
The approach adopted here aims to include gender as a category in a discourse
that often excludes it, and to bring social science-oriented concepts into dialogue with
literary theory and criticism. Combined with a discussion of Africa-influenced versions
of feminist theory (stiwanism, negofeminism, motherism), Subaltern studies provides a
space for the emergence of a south-south postcolonial debate that can throw new light on
writing by African women. Fictional works by Therese Kuoh-Moukoury, Mariama Ba,
Aminata Maiga Ka, Angele Rawiri, Philomene Bassek, Evelyne Mpoudi-Ngolle, Regina
Yaou, Fatou Keita, and Abibatou Traore are read as conveying the various stages of
consciousness on the part of the subaltern. Kuoh-Moukoury's Rencontres essentielles
(1969), Maiga Ka's La voie du salut (1985), and Bassek's La tache de sang (1990)
exemplify a first stage of consciousness in which the subaltern woman submits passively
to oppressive patriarchal, cultural and religious prescriptions. Ba's Une si longue lettre
(1979), Mpoudi Ngolle's Sous La cendre le feu (1990) and Rawiri's Fureurs et cris de
femmes (1989) present a more assertive, rebellious heroine whose efforts are undermined
by a resilient social context. Finally, Traore's Sidagamie (1998), Kei'ta's Rebelle (1998)
and Yaou's Le prix de la revoke (1997) address the possibility of a sustained African
women's struggle resulting not only in transient personal and isolated victories but also in
an enduring social transformation governed by the ethos of gender equality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/13303 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Adesanmi, Pius |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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