CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION
7.2 General Observation
In all the books selected for this study there was no instance when there was, a woman who was not portrayed as inferior, helpless, voiceless and or foolish. This idea was present in all four selected literary texts. This trend can be traced back to the past centuries. Many of the traditionally endorsed ways of representing women in literature seem to be not only anti-feminist but also anti-female. This tendency appears to be driven by an aversion to women, placing them as the root of all evil.
According to Ruthven (1984:83), “different cultures and different religions have their own myths to confirm this notion about women. In the pagan tradition it was Pandora who opened the box from which all the world’s evil emerged. In the Christian religion, paradise was lost because Eve tempted Adam”. To oppose this negative sentiment, the Elizabethan poet Emilia Lanier was to point out that Jesus Christ was “begotten of a woman, borne of a woman, nourished of a woman, obedient to a woman, healed women, pardoned women, comforted women” (ibid.).
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Gender inequalities are a reality that is present in all the selected works written by male authors. Women images are represented as helpless victims who cannot break away from the shackles of male domination. They are depicted as people who seem to understand the language that preludes their physical abuse. Words such as
‘mfazi’ are a warning for what will follow. The abuse ranges from verbal abuse, in the form of insults to physical abuse namely slapping the face or at times being whipped.
Women-battering is a common theme in isiZulu literary texts. Physical abuse seems to know no boundaries where women are concerned; its victims are not only uneducated but also educated women. In Uvalo Lwezinhlonzi, a novel written during the apartheid era, women characters are beaten by male characters. Manamuza beats his wife KaMemunce, an old woman and also beats his daughters. In the same novel Masovenyeza beats his wives. The majority of the women characters in Uvalo Lwezinhlonzi are rural and uneducated. In Ngiwafunge Amabomvu, a drama written prior to 1994, women are beaten and tied with a rope for being disobedient to the king. Women characters are portrayed as rural and uneducated. All women characters, in Ababulali Benyathi, are educated. Being a post-apartheid work, one would think the approach would be different since the buzz word in the country was
‘democracy’. In spite of the socio-political changes that were taking place in the country, the author presents a character like MaShezi who experiences abuse at the hands of her husband, Duma.
In the drama, Kudela Owaziyo, also written after 1994 and set in a semi- urban area, female characters such as Londiwe are educated. In spite of her high level of education, she and her sisters, together with their mother, become victims of physical abuse. Domestic violence in the selected isiZulu literary texts transcends time and space. Women were beaten up during the apartheid and even post- apartheid period. Thus it may be argued that literature as a mirror of society should reflect characters that are convincing and authentic and that a reader can identify with or aspire to be like. It is important to note that for MaMlanduli and, Bajwayele, Masovenyeza’s wives, Thulisile, MaShezi and kaMemunce shedding tears appears to be an obvious means of sublimating their dependence existence to male power.
According to Tembo, “major female characters leave the stage only after the patriarchal society sees their ‘breaking point’. This appears to be a premeditated
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narrative strategy employed by the author to augment the idea of female submission in the text because in crying, nobody says anything” (Tembo, 2013: 118). This view held by Tembo is evident throughout the literary texts dealt with in this study.
Ilobolo (bride price) remains a contentious issue in the Zulu culture and literature produced by this society. It is a traditional practice that has been abused by greedy fathers as their self-enrichment tool. This was evident in the analysis of Uvalo Lwezinhlonzi and Ngiwafunge Ambomvu. In both plays, fathers are driven by the pursuit of self-enrichment and status in the community to marry off their daughters to the highest bidder. In the Zulu culture being an induna, the chief’s right hand man was a senior position that all men aspired to. A man could be promoted to this position because of his bravery during the war or because of his riches determined by the number of cattle he owned. It also entitled him to be paid more cattle as ilobolo when his daughters got married. All these factors put together further perpetuated greed and violence against women within households. As a result of this high price paid by the husband-to-be, some unscrupulous husbands gained a sense of ownership and authority over their wives.
What is worth observing is that in all four selected texts men do not listen to women, thus rendering them voiceless. In Uvalo Lwezinhlonzi Manamuza does not listen to his wife, kaMemunce’s advice on Bajwayele’s marriage issue and does not listen to Bajwayele herself. In Ngiwafunge Amabomvu Zaba does not listen to his own mother. The chief, Ngubane, himself, is not impressed by Thulisile’s quest for the truth but is extremely impressed by Zaba’s bravery. In Ababulali Benyathi Duma does not listen to his wife, MaShezi’s advice, but instead allows himself to be misled by Mbandlwa, his secretary, because he is a man. During a reconciliation meeting the platform to address the community is not given to at least one of the two women responsible for bringing peace about but it is the Rev Masongolo who gets given the platform; for the simple reason that he is a man. Mdaluli, in Kudela Owaziyo, also does not listen to the advice given to him by his wife, MaMlanduli nor his daughters Londiwe, Khombephi and Nenelezi. Literary works irrefutably contain features which can only be labelled misogynist in nature. Ruthven (1984:84) questions the reasoning behind literature that presently still contain misogynistic features,
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especially in a period that is not dominated by an expressivist view of writing as an outburst of the writer’s personal opinions.
Gender stereotypes were observable in the selected literary texts. Female characters were portrayed as rebellious, gold-diggers, foolish and prostitutes.
Bajwayele, the heroine of Uvalo Lwezinhlonzi, and her mother are portrayed as rebellious women. Stupidity is also evident in the portrayal of Masovenyeza’s wives who had so much accepted as a norm, their physical abuse by their husband with a shambok, that was given a name Sabisabafazi (Scare women).
Thulisile, in Ngiwafunge Amabomvu, is also depicted as a rebellious woman who cheats on the chief. MaShezi in Ababulali Benyathi is also portrayed as a rebellious woman and as a prostitute from KwaMashu. In Kudela Owaziyo, Londiwe is depicted as a rebellious woman that challenges a man, her father, in a manner that is unacceptable even to her mother. In the same drama Hlengiwe is presented as a gold digger and prostitute, who would do anything to get money even if it means marrying a man she does not love. MaMlanduli is portrayed as a stupid woman who would rather sell her own children in order to gain favour with her husband.
Bryson (2003:159) asserts that, “many recent writers have also drawn on postmodernist ideas to argue not simply that manmade knowledge is incomplete because it excludes women, but that any attempt to establish universal principles and objective knowledge is inherently misguided and incapable of realization”. In line with the above argument one can conclude that the act of writing can never be objective. Hence there is no objective reality in literature, and writers frame “reality”
with their own interpretation of the context in life.