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…

Nervous Conditions and Upsetting Illnesses Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions focuses on many difficulties the indigenous people of Rhodesia faced in the 1960s. English colonization resulted in a radical shift within the local education systems. Rather than learn about their own history, local children were taught about the greatness of Western culture. Due to this educational shift, Rhodesian children struggled to understand their identity amongst the old traditional ways of their…

Aysha Rathor Anthropology Nervous Condition Nervous Condition is an autobiographical novel written by a Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga that takes place in Rhodesia in early 1970s. The book focuses on themes of gender, class and race through the eyes of a young female(Tambu) protagonist. The title of the book references Jean Paul book The Wretched of the Earth in which he states, “status of 'native' is a nervous condition introduced and maintained by the settler among the…

Brave Women in Nervous Conditions “Can you cook books and feed them to your husband? Stay at home with your mother. Learn to cook and clean. Grow vegetables." (15) One of the most significant quotes in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions sets the tone on how women are viewed and treated throughout this story. Set in a postcolonial Zimbabwe Nervous Conditions tells the story of four women who are living in a man’s world. Underestimated, unappreciated and dominated, each of these women stand…

“Tambudzai––must be given the opportunity to do what she can for the family before she goes into her husband’s home” (Dangarembga 77). Society’s expectations involve women staying home and taking care of the husband and children. Tambu goes against these expectations and tries to create a better future for herself.Tambu’s unnatural personality fulfills the outcast trait of the female archetypal…

Steffiny Tsagali is a fellow History major student, of Ghanaian descent. Born in America, she visits Ghana frequently, and well connected to the culture. Steffiny is from the city of Volta, located in the southeastern part of the country, belonging to the Ewe tribe. Ewe is both linguistic and a tribal group of the West African region with a population in Togo and Benin. Both her parents are from different tribes, but because she took her father’s last name, she is a part of his tribe. In…

Tsisti Dangarembga has managed to bring out how the traditions of Rhodesia, regarding gender, sparked rebellion from the girls who believed that they were being oppressed. The belief that men were more superior compared to the girls, prompted them to start a revolution of gender equality (Bâ and Mariama, 47). For instance, Tambu, faced a lot of disadvantages growing up in a place driven by the African Traditions simply because she was a female. Since she was the second born, with the eldest…

Nervous Conditions is a novel written by Tsitsi Dangarembga that tells the story of four women living in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe. This book shows the struggle that the main character Tambudzai and her female family members all face during the colonization of their country. Tambu’s cousin, Nyasha and her Aunt, Maiguru are all extremely relevant characters and they must endure this oppressive demeanor forced on them by their society. One very significant character in Nervous Conditions is Nyasha,…

Frantz Fanon ridiculed the affected pretentiousness of Martinician "been-tos" in Black Skin, White Masks, and the cultural confusion of the been-to Nyasha and her family in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions is one of the fundamental theme in that novel. The characters in Nervous Conditions who have not had the same experience of travel in the west find the desire of those who have returned to impose their English values, language, and religion on everyone else confusing and unpleasant.…

Babamukuru, A Bridge to Endless Worlds Eran Akyil In the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thor, Asgard's gatekeeper Heimdall controls entry of different people into the realm. Equally, in Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga uses Babamukuru as the gatekeeper to regulate the passage of people and beliefs from an old world to a modern one; however, simultaneously depicts him to merge his own, old-world, core values with the philosophies of modern Rhodesia. As the gatekeeper, Babamukuru decides which…