Dichotomic Ideologies in Nervous Conditions (1988) by Tsitsi Dangarembga: Claiming and (Re) Shaping Identities and Agencies

Abstract

: This article shines light on the polysemantic implications of Nervous Conditions (1988)by Tsitsi Dangarembgaas it explores issues of gender, choice, (in)justice, empowerment, „place‟, meaning, roles, discourses, prejudice, and relations in a patriarchal and dogmatic African society. In delineating the social, economic, „political,‟ cultural, and psychological hurdles facing women, Dangarembga invites the reader to see beyond and re-interpret the lines of oppositional ideologies which come into play between male and female characters as they struggle for more space, recognition, self-actualization, and identity in a chauvinistic, male-dominated environment. As such, leaning on sociology, psychology, postcolonial and queer theories, deconstruction, feminism, this article sets out to underscore the bedrock of dichotomic outlooks and the rationales behind the unflinching battles for agencies and identifies. Thus, the interplay between culture(s), ideologies, behavioral contradictions, and paradoxes of selves, power, and the shaping of agencies in the attempts to end subalternity is emphasized by means of axiology, dialogism, rhetoric, and discourse analysis