Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga and Our Sister Killjoy by Ama ata Aidoo

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Written in 1988 by South African writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions is a coming of age story for the narrator, Tambudzai. The oldest daughter of a native Shona family living in the British colony of Rhodesia during the 1960s, Tambudzai has her heart set on getting an education as a means of developing her independence. To achieve her goals Tambudzai, or Tambu, goes through the trials and tribulations associated with the autocratic authority exercised by the men of her culture and the racism and patriarchy exhibited by the colonial power. Much of her growth and confidence is bolstered through her relationship with four women - her mother, her two aunts, and her cousin Nyasha. Each of these women have lived through hardships and their current life experiences teach Tambu much about what will happen if she does not achieve her own goals in life providing her with visual incentives to excel. A large part of the novel's conflicts and interactions occur due to the tumultuous time period and the setting's uneasy colonial aura.

Although the novel was written in the 1980s it takes place during the 1960s when many of Africa's colonial powers were losing their claimed land due to large, often underground, independence movements. Following the Gold Coast's, now Ghana's, move for freedom from British colonialism in 1957 many other African countries began to move in similar directions. Sometimes peaceful as in Ghana's case, sometimes violent such as Kenyan rebels did, but always aiming for the same goal. With the novel being set in the 60s the air of the story is thick with this uneasy and often racist attitude stemming from the British. Although Rhodesia was eventually successful in gaining its independence it wasn't until 1980 when it was renamed Zimbabwe - beyond the scope of time presented in the novel. What we instead see in Nervous Conditions is the establishment of unrest towards the British imperials. With many individuals, especially women, yearning to escape the patriarchal and racist atmosphere they often sought education as a form of power to fight back with. When the British initially colonized Rhodesia, then Southern Rhodesia, in 1923 they dominated a country of tribal cultures, but could they maintain that rule over a country of educated and riotous peoples - not past 1980 when their reign ended and Zimbabwe was formed.

Many of Tambu's discontent with her surroundings stems from the deeply rooted patriarchal norms of her culture and she being both a woman and having her brother dead means she will always remain a second-class member of the family so to speak. Because of the importance of family in the novel and the uniqueness of its structure in regards to a traditional American family I decided to dig a bit deeper. Studying the family structure of Tambudzai's Shona tribe I found that the Shona, including the Siguake family, follow a patrilineal (descent through males) kinship system and ...