Stratton's "Contemporary African Literature and the Politics of Gender" (Book Note)

 

 

Florence Stratton's thesis in "Contemporary African Literature and the Politics of Gender" asserts that the "dialogic interaction between men's and women's writings is one of the defining features of the contemporary African literary tradition". Stratton initiates her argument by illustrating the omission of African women's writing from male-produced constructions of African literature. Examining writers from East and West Africa (excluding South Africa), both in English and in translation, she explores how African women writers engage with literature by men and the dominant patriarchal discourse of gender. While acknowledging a theoretical debt to Fredric Jameson's "The Political Unconscious" and Abdul R. JanMohamed's "Manichean Aesthetics," she revises their ideas to incorporate gender considerations.

 

Stratton's book is organized into three sections: "Aspects of the Male Literary Tradition," "Room for Women," and "Men Write Back." In "Aspects of the Male Literary Tradition," she first delves into Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart," highlighting how Achebe, while focused on countering European racism, neglected to address African or European sexism. The following chapter in this section discusses 'The Mother Africa Trope,' identifying the national subject as male, relegating women to an association with Africa and subjecting them to male domination. This trope is traced through various male writers and movements, including Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Okot p'Bitek, Ousmane Sembène, Camara Laye, Nuruddin Farah, Wole Soyinka, and Mongo Bed. The middle section devotes chapters to African women writers Grace Ogot (Kenya), Flora Nwapa (Nigeria), Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria), and Miriama Bâ (Senegal). Each chapter explores how these women's works challenge the male tradition and dominant tropes of womanhood, examining how gender issues influence their production and reception. The final section scrutinizes Ngugi's "Devil on the Cross" and Achebe's "Anthills of the Savannah"  as partially successful attempts to engage in a dialogue with women and "transform the status of women from that of object to that of subject."

"Contemporary African Literature and the Politics of Gender" is a readable, well-argued, thoroughly researched, and balanced feminist work that sheds light on the integral role of women's writing in the African literary tradition and the dominant discourse of gender. Florence Stratton's contribution makes it challenging for critics to continue marginalizing this writing. While acknowledging the book's feminist agenda, it is evident that the work is thoughtful and fair in its approach.

 

The author addresses the limitations inherent in any book attempting to cover all contextual discourses of a text, emphasizing that her primary concern is with gender discourse. She acknowledges the interconnectedness of various discourse systems and the need to understand them in relation to one another. However, there is a concern raised about the book's production primarily for the Western academy. Biodun Jeyifo's observation about the shift of African literary study away from Africa to Europe and America is noted, and while Stratton spent a significant time in African discourses, there is a call for more nuanced considerations of the specificity of Western and postcolonial feminisms.

 

Stratton's effort to integrate women's writing into the African literary tradition is commendable, although there is a suggestion that she might overlook the potential risk of interpreting African women's resistance through a Western feminist lens. The need for more work on distinguishing the specificities of Western and postcolonial feminisms is highlighted.

 

While the book successfully discusses a few women writers in detail, there is a desire for more attention to writers like Ama Ata Aidoo, who holds a significant position in African literature and was recognized with a Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1992. Despite minor quibbles, Stratton's work has undeniably solidified the critical position of African women's writing and is predicted to reshape the landscape of African studies.