WOMEN IN ORAL LITERATURE more

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE THE PRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN AFRICAN FOLKLORE ETYANG PHILIP C50/21404/2010 UNIT TITLE: ORAL LITERATURE UNIT CODE: MAL 504 LECTURER: PROFESSOR MUIGAI WA GACHANJA DATE PRESENTED: 15TH NOVEMBER 2011 Because every man has as boss his wife or his mother, or some other woman in his life, men may rule the world, but women rule the men who rule the world. Thus contrary to appearances, woman is boss, the overall boss, of the world. (C.f Anatomy of Female Power.Chinweizu) Women throughout the history of mankind have been relegated to the back seat either through design or patriarchal societies. In the field of literary works, this has not been different as women have been left miles apart by their male counterparts. Its only recently that women have immersed themselves into the literary world and started producing works of art. Women however, have continued to be depicted or presented in works of art as a weaker sex and are always prone to deceit and treachery unlike the male characters. In folklore, men are portrayed as being strong both in terms of will and physical strength, and they always come to the help of women characters who because of their weak character, are always prone to treachery from ogres and other tricksters. This concept however has done more good than bad to the portrayal of women in folklore. According to Joy Mutero (Sunday Nation, July 11, 1999, p. 16), traditional folktales have had negative effects on the development of young girls as long as they condition the girls to accept the institution of marriage as the ultimate way of life. Mutero in her article questions why girls and women are depicted negatively in our folktales. Adhiambo Oduol and Obote 1992 In a book, The Last of the Ogres and Other stories, a book funded by the Kenya Oral Literature Association (KOLA), the editors rewrite several Kenyan folktales so as to make them gender sensitive. The assumption guiding the rewriting process is that women are adversely depicted in oral narratives, and hence the need to liberate them from the traditional negative images through the rewriting process. Their conviction is that folktales perpetuate the myth of male superiority and at the same time serve to justify the existence of inequalities between women and men. (c.f Muigai- wa- Gachanja, Images of women in Kenyan oral narratives) Women in Africa latterly have joined women in other nations in their quest for rights, for opportunity, relevance and recognition. This feminist quest is not imported, it cannot be. Nobody knows the latent volcano of the soul of woman nor indeed of man which can erupt suddenly and determinably. Feminism is a reaction of women with guts and steam and nobody tells the other to remove her head from the yoke. It is only the determinant weight. This is so In the area of African oral literature, the voices of women continue to be muted. For example, the image of the oral artist is often masculinized, and the female verbal artists continue to be undermined. Women characters play various roles in African epics, including heroic roles, but audiences and scholars generally fail to note and appreciate the full extent of these roles, focusing instead, on male characters and their actions. The experiences and actions of men get more attention than those of women. Notions such as heroism are seen and understood from a male perspective. These biases are built into research tools such as the motif indexes and the hero pattern. Joseph Mbele in his article Women in the African Epic, gives an example of the Ananse in the Ashanti tale “How Spider Obtained Sky-God Stories.”The trickster Ananse goes on a quest to obtain Nyankonpon, Sky-God stories (Radin 25-27). Sky- God has declared that anyone who wants those stories must bring Onini, the python; Osebo, the leopard; Mmotia, the fairy; and Mmoboro, the hornets. Now these tough creatures to capture, and everybody who has tried has failed, including powerful towns like kokofu, bekwai, Asumengya! So what does Anansi do? He consults his wife Aso, who teaches Ananse how to accomplish each task, enabling Ananse to capture all creatures and present them to Sky-God, one after another. That is how Ananse obtained Sky –God stories! The problem, however, is that audience’s students and researchers; we focus our attention on the male figure: we do not pay much attention to the role of the woman. We do not value the women’s role as much as we do the men’s roles. The stories may talk explicitly about women’s roles, actions and contributions, but these do not register in our minds the same way men’s roles, actions and contributions do. We indeed have eyes and ears but we are conditioned neither to fully see nor fully hear the female characters. He further argues that those who strive to rewrite folktales so as to make them gender sensitive fail to understand why folktales have existed for generations, and why they continue to exist and appeal to people of all ages, irrespective of the audiences' sex, education or status in society. In oral literature circles, scholars tend to view the epic as a male genre, concerned with and revolving around male heroes. Published epic songs and narratives tend to center around male heroes, and studies of epic have created and perpetuated the image of the hero as a male figure.” (Mbele, Mashindano! Competitive Music Performance in East Africa, 2000:1) Sundiata Keita from the Malinke people of West Africa, the fabulous epic hero who founded the Mali empire was the son of Sologon the buffalo woman. She was so called because of her ugliness and hunchback, Shaka Zulu who was responsible of uniting the Nguni people of Southern Africa, kinjekitile from Tanzania who led the Maji Maji rebellion of 1905-1907, all these Epic heroes have been men. The only woman is Sologon in Sundiata and she has been presented as an ugly woman who even has a hunchback. In East Africa, Ogre stories have presented women as being weak and always deceived by ogres. It is the man who always saves the woman in Ogre stories. For example among the Embu and Mbeere communities from central Kenya, Kiondondoe and the Ogre (Kiondondoe na Irimarimu). The four proverbs below highlight the African world view of women as depicted in African folklore; He who marries a real beauty is seeking trouble. - Accra proverb, Ghana The woman finds an empty house, she doesn’t find riches. DRC Proverb An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches. Its not only in Africa where folklore has presented women as being weak and easily deceived. Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Little Red Riding hood is deceived by the big bad wolf and eventually is eaten by the wolf before being saved by a hunter. The wolf also eats the grandmother of Little Red Riding Hood. In his journal article, Muigai-Wa – Gachanja argues that if viewed from a gender lens, monsters and ogres actually do represent strong, violent and destructive males, particularly those who exercise authority, chiefs and kings. Whereas the monsters represent physically strong and destructive men, the women represent the wise and the oppressed in society. Thus the folktale contrasts weakness against power, gentleness and courtesy against brutality, and wisdom against mere animal strength. And women are the carriers of wisdom, courtesy and gentleness while men represent the destructive forces on earth In concluding his paper, Muigai wa Gachanja noted that women and girls are not depicted negatively in folklore. We share in these sentiments. They are depicted as protectors of life where males destroy creation. They also appear as carriers of wisdom, wit and intelligence. And unlike men, they are not violent, seductive or aggressive; rather they are compassionate and courageous, where courage is required. Works cited Thomas Mopoku Mofolo's "Inverted Epic Hero": A Reading of Mofolo's . as an African Epic Folktale. Contributors: Kwame Ayivor - author. Journal Title: Research in African Literatures. Volume: 28. Issue: 1. Publication Year: 1997. Page Number: 49. Wa-Gachanja, Muigai. Images of Women in Kenyan Oral Narratives. Fabula Volume 43 (1-2) de Gruyter – Jul 2, 2002 Mbele, Mashindano. Competitive Music Performance in East Africa, 2000 Gorfain, Phyllis, and Jack Glazier. 1978. Sexual symbolism, origins, and the ogre in Mbeere, Kenya. Journal of American Folklore 91:925-946. Kabira, Wanjiku Mukabi, and Karega wa Mutahi. 1988. Gikuyu Oral Literature. Nairobi: Heinemann Kenya.