Empowering The African Woman in Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s Devil on the Cross (1982): A New Perspective
Metadatos
Afficher la notice complèteAuteur
Abbas, Syed ZamanatEditorial
Universidad de Granada
Materia
Feminism Womanist Assertive Self-actualization Oppressive Patriarchs
Date
2023-01-19Referencia bibliográfica
Dr. Syed Zamanat Abbas (2022). Empowering The African Woman in Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s Devil on the Cross (1982): A New Perspective Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers,Vol. 13(6). 582-592. DOI: [10.47750/jett.2022.13.06.060]
Résumé
Unlike many other African male writers, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o portrays women as strong and assertive in the face
of the different hardships they face in Kenyan society. He presents women as capable of making changes in their
communities. He paints an unconventional portrayal of the African woman. He does not look at women as a
separate entity from men. Instead, he presents them as struggling side by side with men. They complement each
other. They can get their voice heard, and they are no longer voiceless. Ngugi portrays women from a new
perspective through their interaction with men in the same community. He adds that African women are no
longer defined only by their femaleness but their humanity as well. Ngugi deviates from the conventional path
of looking at African womanhood and seeks a new approach to modern African women. In other words, Ngugi
adopts a new outlook that challenges the conventional stereotypical image of African women. This image
presents them as subdued, oppressed, and demeaned to a very degraded position in the African society in
general and the Kenyan society in particular. It is an outlook that presents African women differently in a new
way different from traditional Feminism. In Devil on The Cross, Wa Thiong’o presents Wariinga and Wargani
as two models that represent the womanist vision of the writer in question. Despite sundry sufferings and
hardships, they have to experience, both women can appear capable of making changes in their community and
working for the sake of their country. Also, Gatuiria and Muturi are two models of the African men who
cooperate with women in their community in defying the oppressive public forces and working for the welfare
of their country.