The Journey Back: Ambivalent (Re)Presentations of Pre-Colonial Women in Post-Independent Shona Novels

Abstract

SummaryMyths on gender relations of the African past, invented and propagated by settlers, were imbibed and even disseminated by early Shona writers. Shona indigenous culture, men and patriarchy were always shown to subordinate women's interests to men's and to place women in the service of men. After independence, novelists such as Mutasa (in Nhume yaMambo and Misodzi, Dikita neRopa) attempt a reconstruction of the position and image of African women in pre-colonial Zimbabwe. Using the Africana Womanist literary theory, this article is an examination of the (re)presentation of pre-colonial women by the contemporary Shona writer with intent to ascertain its authenticity. It observes that, while the writer's image of women approximates life of the past, other images still pant to Eurocentric images of African women. Thus, the writer exudes ambivalent (re)presentations of women in his novels. The article urges writers on the African past to keep researching and come up with layers of information on how past life was like as well as the good that can be adopted and adapted for the good of today's life.