CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.8 Literature Review of Related Literary Studies Which Resulted in Completion of
Several graduate students of African literature have channelled their energies in reviewing literary works with the objective of examining the portrayal of women images in these writings. Gumede (2002) explores the portrayal of female characters in selected Zulu texts to determine whether the female characters are represented in a positive or negative light. He concludes that due to patriarchal system abuses are levied on women and that, to a very large extent, men are the culprits who hide behind culture for their oppressive actions. Commenting on the extent to which some men impose their power on women, Gumede comments that they also erroneously and naïvely subscribe to the belief that violating a virgin will cure them of HIV/AIDS, thus contributing to the ruin of many women’s lives.
A comparative study by Mdletshe (2011) engages with the question of how male and female authors depict female characters. This study is relevant to this thesis as it contributes to the knowledge base of this research. . However, by only examining Zulu language literary texts and excluding texts from other South African cultures and African countries, Mdletshe narrows her scope of study and potential findings.
Over and above relying on texts by authors writing in isiZulu, this current study includes representative literature from the broader African context with the objective of testing the universality of how women are portrayed in African literature. The value of Mdletshe’s study is that it considers the necessity to discuss both male and female authors as it fosters impartiality in the manner in which the study was designed.
Other research studies worth commenting on are those on Xhosa literature. In her study, a female researcher, Masuku (1997) investigates the portrayal of female characters in selected isiXhosa drama. Her focus is on works by male authors and she concludes that due to their patriarchal orientation, Xhosa male writers depict
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female characters in an inferior manner when compared to the male characters.
Similarly, Peter (2010) examines Xhosa male writers and their adverse depictions of female characters and contends that the apparent physical difference between males and females may be a contributing factor in females being stereotypically portrayed in a negative light by male writers, and thus perceived as weak and incompetent by society as a whole. He calls for scholars of literary studies to aggressively confront this mind-set which he regards as socially constructed. These emotional and physical differentiation experiences between males and females, he adds, have resulted in different perceptions of life as they impact on women and men. He observes that few male writers, even those who are concerned about gender inequalities, have succeeded in portraying female characters with which female readers can identify with. He believes that female readers are entitled and desire to see their own experiences depicted in such literary works. As such he invites female writers to take a lead in expressing their own ideas about women’s status in literary texts, and thus correct or complement the bias of certain perspectives about women (Peter, 2010:193).
Mathye (2003) conducts an enquiry into a selected number of Tsonga novels in which the portrayal of female characters against the backdrop of patriarchal values are made. This study reveals that women have always been oppressed in line with their cultural, traditional, social and ideological norms. The study further finds that the patriarchal nature of this society is directly responsible for the mindset informing Tsonga literature. This assumption is arrived at after discovering that male authors clearly exhibit patriarchal bias by depicting female characters as comfortable with the status quo, while female writers present a different picture. As a female scholar, Mathye views oppressive practises such as condoned by patriarchy as deplorable.
Female authors reflect this stance by often creating female characters that undermine patriarchy by resisting traditional values. For example, Mathye (2003) observes that novels by female writers advocate freedom from social bias based on sexual differences and fight for gender equality in Tsonga society. Tsonga female writers therefore support transformation of some Tsonga beliefs and cultural norms in line with the changing times. Another difference between male and female authors
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in this society is that both genders are determined to portray their own gender characters as protagonists.
The aforementioned studies have been confined to Zulu or Xhosa cultures in their exploration of the depiction of female characters, implying a uniquely Nguni phenomenon. However, their respective studies are valuable in that they have initiated a much needed discourse on gender representation in fiction. In South Africa’s democratic dispensation any study that addresses gender disparity issues is seen as an important contribution regardless of the extent to which it has been investigated.
Of particular interest is the study that was undertaken by Machaba (2011). Being a woman she studied Tsonga tradition focussing in particular on the portrayal of women images in Xitsonga literature. Her research confirmed that male authors are biased in their depiction of female characters. By studying a variety of genres in this society, such as novels, poetry and proverbs the author discovered that gender played a crucial role in the depiction of characters in all the above genres. The study also demonstrated the extent to which gender differentiation was embedded, as in the Xitsonga tradition this differenation begins at birth. She refers to the message given to the father on the arrival of his newborn. When a male child is born, the message given to the father is wa matlha [you have begotten a spear] and wa xirhundz [you have begotten a grain basket]; if it is a female child (Machaba, 2011:164). Thus the underlying implication already at birth in the imagery conveyed through “spear” and “the grain basket” is that the male instantly obtains the status of being a man destined for public life while female is associated with domesticity.
In this sense, on the one hand the boy child is associated with male masculine activities such as those of hunting and protecting the community while on the other hand, the birth of a girl child is associated with feminine domestic activities such as pounding, cultivating the field and drawing water from the river.
The examination of the selected novels in this study also reveals that the Xitsonga cultural norms of marriage are no longer strictly adhered to. This is represented through some of the female characters who defy their culture by remaining single and thus asserting the liberal feminist perspective that culture confines women and
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that a woman’s individual interests take precedence over that of the general society.
The analysis also reveals the underlying male bias in the manner in which female characters are illustrated in a stereotypical way and depicted as gold-diggers, treacherous, greedy, bullies , prostitutes, passive, dependant and traitors in the selected novels by both male and female authors. With regard to the female novelists, their depiction of women characters are far more balanced, as both negative and positive traits are evident in their presentation od their female characters (Machaba, 2011:164-165).