Unpacking the Gendered Edge of Slavery in Pre-Colonial Africa: A Critical Reading of The Hundred Wells of Salaga by Ayesha Harruna Atta

Abstract

Using Ayesha Harruna Atta’s The Hundred Wells of Salaga as a stepping-stone, this research paper sets out to delve into the gendered structure of slavery. The article argues that the straightjacket of patriarchal masculinity with its attendant human toll was instrumental in mediating female slavery in pre-colonial Africa. That slavery exacted a heavy toll amongst African women is borne out in the physical and psychological woes of such characters as Aminah, Khadija, and, to a lesser extent, Wurche. The paper also brings to light this much – slave women serve as sexual objects and domestic labour. The pervasiveness of the dead hand of patriarchy reaches out into the practice of enslavement. The sexist edge of slavery reflects in many regards, so the article posits, the power of men, whose praxis is geared towards shoring their stranglehold on women. Men wield vis-à-vis women what the American scholar John Halloway calls ‘power over,’ thereby thwarting them in their well-meaning all-out drive towards full-blown ‘self-actualization.’ This investigation project makes the contention that one of the merits of The Hundred Wells of Salaga is to bring out into sharp relief the dogged refusal of women to take their patriarchy-induced lot in their strides. If anything, Aminah and Wurche’s pushback bears commending since it bespeaks not only a scathing reproach to male dominance and female slavery but also a stunning tribute to sisterhood as a sure-fire way out of the predicament of women. Methodology-wise, this paper taps into an array of perspectives predicated upon the social sciences and the humanities as well as literary theory.