“Yesterday You were Divorced. Today I Am a Widow”: An Appraisal of Widowhood Practices and the Effects on the Psyche of Widows in Africa.

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

is a reality for as long as people are born and people die. Widows are found in every community but in Africa, the experience of the widow is such that women dread to be widows. In Africa, widows go through a lot of hardship that stems from the society, the husband's family and from tradition. This paper tries to look at the nature of the woman, see how this subscribes to the treatment she receives in society especially in her time of grief and loss. This paper will focus on the plight of widows in some communities in Africa and how gender and its attendant problems impede on the woman's social standing and general development in society. In looking at the issue of widowhood in Africa, the reference point will be Mariama Ba's novel, So Long a Letter where the paper will be addressing how the African woman handles widowhood and how the African society sees the widow. From study, it is observed that the term Widowhood has not really attracted much criticism in African Literature. In this sense, this paper will be examining some feminist theories in an attempt to adequately appraise this situation. Introduction: If I should die and leave you here awhile Be not like others, soon undone, who keep Long vigil by the silent dust and weep. For my sake turn again to life and smile Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do Something to comfort weaker hearts than thine Complete those dear unfinished tasks of mine And I, perchance, may therein comfort you. Anonymous. This may not be true for the African woman passing through this phase of life in the sense that widowhood in Africa has never been a period of Comfort and the only aspect of this poem, if one may call it so, that may concern the African woman in that state would be the seventh line complete those dear unfinished tasks of mine. The issue of women as vital, autonomous and formidable social force was until recently a mirage in critical discourse. This may have started long ago in Europe and America, but did not gain much ground until the early 1980s. In Africa, the issue of the woman just recently came into focus. Gender as a recognized phenomenon today makes it almost impossible for one to address any issue whether in politics, economy, philosophy, literature, name it, without a specific reference to gender. Showalter (1989:1) quoting Rutven considers gender a crucial determinant in the production, circulation and consumption of literary discourse One is therefore tempted to apply the principles in the analysis of widowhood. In applying these principles, one must first and foremost look at the place of widows in society. This article discusses the plight and suffering of widows in terms of their social, economic, and psychological and human rights violations in Africa. The article describes the situation of the widows as silent victims who suffer cruel and dehumanizing cultural and ritual practices as a mourning process for their dead spouses. The article also examines the gender inequalities suffered by the widows and makes some recommendations as to how these practices could be minimized or eliminated from society Widows make up to about half of the adult female population in many African societies as Potash (1986: 1) reveals but very little is said about them and their situation or plight in any discourse. Most of the materials gathered on widowhood practices in African societies can be said to be raw and unprocessed. The absence of a diachronic research on the issue of widowhood makes the practice very difficult to assess. This is to say that literature available on widowhood practices particularly in Africa is very little. The dearth of African literary genres that would have interrogated the plight of widows show evidence of her silencing and invisibility and this may be responsible for the very little materials available today on widowhood. Given this situation, African literary criticism will have to explore this rather dry area of African experience because it is essential. …