Stereotypes In Nervous Conditions By Tsitsi Dangarembga

Only a short while ago did the world figure out how devastating colonialism was; to the land, and the people who inhabit it. We hear a lot of stereotypes about the natives of Africa pertaining to cleanliness and intelligence. Nervous Conditions a “coming of age” novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga challenges these stereotypes with the story of two young girls. Though, her family portrays the opposite of these stereotypes it doesn’t mean that it comes without problems. We see a lot of psychological problems in this story that relate directly to the stereotypes, This is due to the actions by family and the white Rhodesian population. (make it slightly more specific) In history there have been a lot of stereotypes relating to the people of Africa …show more content…
She is a child of two worlds and grows more confused on her identity over time. She is stubborn and fights a lot especially with Babamukuru. Nyasha in no way likes the way she is treated especially relating to her body and she stops eating and later has a large mental breakdown. Her breakdown involves her ranting and raving over how she is treated by Babamukuru and by the white Rhodesian people. The family took Nyesha to the psychiatrist and he said, “ Nyasha could not be ill, that Africa did not suffer in the way we …show more content…
One of the stark scenes where we see firsthand how the white population has affected a character is seen when Nyasha abruptly has a mental breakdown. During her mental breakdown she mentions how Babamukuru is treated like less of a human and mocks the white Rhodesians by using their accent. The white Rhodesians call Babamukuru a good boy which is very dehumanizing. Nyasha isn’t the only one affected though. When Tambu is sent to the sacred heart convent she is put in dorms, but these dorms are segregated from the white dorms. You also see this in the scholarships that the missions hand out. They are so easy to lose, it 's like they don’t actually care about the kids at all. Tambu brings up the dilemma that if she decides not to go to college in the UK the mission will think she is ungrateful. This example is experienced by Babamukuru who doesn’t desire to go to the UK, but if he doesn’t his scholarship, and therefore his chance of a higher education is gone. The example of oppression seen in the book were very slim, but their impact on the characters throughout is apparent. Colonization touched every who was a part of