This paper examines the effect of colonialism in Dangerembga’s Nervous Condition. It attempts to investigate the negative and positive effects of imperialism on Dangerebga’s fictional characters and by extension the Zimbabwean society, using the postcolonial critical approach. The work contends that Nervous Conditions is Dangerembga’s attempt to record history for society and not a gender centred work even as the present study distances from it.
Introduction
Dangerembga’s Nervous Conditions has received scholarly attention over the years. Many critics have examined the text along the axis of feminism while others have analysed it as a pedagogical and materialistic work. For instance, Okereke in her paper examined the novel along the axis …show more content…
We have the Francophone assimilation by the French and of course the Anglophone’s indirect rule policy by the British. Both policies never went well with African but while the indirect rule policy was mild as accommodated some aspect of Africa’s belief system, the former was worse as enforces itself including its culture on the natives. The assimilation policy assumes its natives as whites and forces them to be like them. While this happened, it results into a negative and positive effect in the natives. Many lost their cultural values, others had psychological breakdown in trying to fuse the two cultures which leads to their dead and others neurosis as the cases of Samba Diallo in Ambigous Adveture, Jean Mezda in Mission to Kala and of course Nahmo, Nyasha, Tambuzai, Maiguru, Babamukuru and others in Nervous Conditions seen other Francophone novels. Nervous Conditions demonstrates this Francophone experience in Zimbabwe. She reveals how the natives suffers different kind of diseases owing to their exposure to it alien culture that is; western …show more content…
It leads to mental colonization through English language, British values, and culture resulting in states of exclusions and alienation. Such alienations are experienced in conditions of mental exile within ones culture to which given one’s education one belong, or in physical displacement evident in the large expatriate population of previously colonized peoples in the west(10). It is true that Babamukuru also suffers cultural alienation. No doubt, his western education detaches him from his Shona culture. He becomes a Christian and imposes it on his family. This reveals in his insistence of the wedding between Jeremiah and his wife. He believes that their marriage is no legal because it is not done in line with the doctrines his religion. He is similar to the character of Kambili’s father who forces his family to be devout Catholics Chimanda’s Purple Hibiscus. Also, his authoritative nature is similar that of Okonkwo in Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart. The psychological state Tambu goes through which she later reconciles is also pathetic. It is obvious that the teaching she receives at the Sacret Heart is the cause. However, having warned by her mother she vows never to take to heart further teachings at the Sacred
Introduction
Dangerembga’s Nervous Conditions has received scholarly attention over the years. Many critics have examined the text along the axis of feminism while others have analysed it as a pedagogical and materialistic work. For instance, Okereke in her paper examined the novel along the axis …show more content…
We have the Francophone assimilation by the French and of course the Anglophone’s indirect rule policy by the British. Both policies never went well with African but while the indirect rule policy was mild as accommodated some aspect of Africa’s belief system, the former was worse as enforces itself including its culture on the natives. The assimilation policy assumes its natives as whites and forces them to be like them. While this happened, it results into a negative and positive effect in the natives. Many lost their cultural values, others had psychological breakdown in trying to fuse the two cultures which leads to their dead and others neurosis as the cases of Samba Diallo in Ambigous Adveture, Jean Mezda in Mission to Kala and of course Nahmo, Nyasha, Tambuzai, Maiguru, Babamukuru and others in Nervous Conditions seen other Francophone novels. Nervous Conditions demonstrates this Francophone experience in Zimbabwe. She reveals how the natives suffers different kind of diseases owing to their exposure to it alien culture that is; western …show more content…
It leads to mental colonization through English language, British values, and culture resulting in states of exclusions and alienation. Such alienations are experienced in conditions of mental exile within ones culture to which given one’s education one belong, or in physical displacement evident in the large expatriate population of previously colonized peoples in the west(10). It is true that Babamukuru also suffers cultural alienation. No doubt, his western education detaches him from his Shona culture. He becomes a Christian and imposes it on his family. This reveals in his insistence of the wedding between Jeremiah and his wife. He believes that their marriage is no legal because it is not done in line with the doctrines his religion. He is similar to the character of Kambili’s father who forces his family to be devout Catholics Chimanda’s Purple Hibiscus. Also, his authoritative nature is similar that of Okonkwo in Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart. The psychological state Tambu goes through which she later reconciles is also pathetic. It is obvious that the teaching she receives at the Sacret Heart is the cause. However, having warned by her mother she vows never to take to heart further teachings at the Sacred