Space Matters: Form and Narrative in Tsitsi Dangaremgbais Nervous Conditions

Abstract

Tsitsi Dangaremgba's Nervous Conditions (1988) is an ingeniously written novel. Its appeal goes beyond Dangaremgba's arresting interest in (post)colonial, gender, and cultural politics and the fact that the novel came out at a moment in Zimbabwean history when there was little supportive space for women in that country who wished to write themselves into the public sphere and discourse by pursuing publishing careers, particularly in English language (see George and Scott). The novel's biggest strength lies in its superior crafting or, rather, in how its narrative instruments, from the obvious to the veiled, enhance effectively the work's layers of meaning. For what we find on close reading of this book is a text that exemplifies the notion that content and form complement each other and thus are inseparable. In Nervous Conditions, this reciprocity shows in how different narrative elements are interwoven skillfully and tightly with the umbrella motif of space, all performing as organic components that work not alone but cooperatively and hence successfully to carry the weight of Dangaremgba's serious message. The novel's overarching moral against hegemony, exclusion, and stasis and its thematic support of prudence, balance, and growth are reflected variously in how the story is told and the ingredients Dangaremgba, as author, assembles to make it come alive. As Derek Wright has stated, "Nervous Conditions is a work in the naturalist tradition, but it is remarkable for its high level of imaginative organization and contains some finely judged poetic symbolism" (111). Rosemary Gray (1995) and Gilian Gorle (1997) echo that assertion, noting that the novel is sophisticated and complex.