Representations of Women’s Agency in African Anti-colonial Struggles: The Case of Sambizanga (1972) and Mapantsula (1988)

Abstract

Films made during African nationalist struggles and which explore African women’s experiences in these conflicts, such as Sambizanga (dir. Sarah Maldoror 1972) and Mapantsula (dir. Oliver Schmitz 1988), often reflect the dominant patriarchal views regarding women’s “place” in society. Sambizanga, set in Angola, and Mapantsula, set in South Africa, create gendered experiences in which women, to varying degrees, occupy less privileged positions than men in the generation and sharing of knowledge, and in participation in the nationalist struggles. Women’s participation in the struggles seems to be limited by their lack of knowledge of the full extent of the conditions of colonial oppression. Women also seem to carry a lesser burden of experiences of physical pain and humiliation at the hands of colonialists. This paper argues that such representations underestimate the suffering of women and their agency during the colonial era and anti-colonial struggles. It also considers the possibility that such representations affirm stereotypical assumptions about, and perceived images of, African women that may not necessarily reflect their “real” experiences. In postcolonial states where having been active in the anti-colonial struggle still carries some currency, such representations may undermine the political legitimacy that women need in order to acquire significant leadership roles in governments.