African women writing resistance : an anthology of contemporary voices

Author(s)

• Browdy de Hernandez, Jennifer

Bibliographic Information

African women writing resistance : an anthology of contemporary voices

edited by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez ... [et al.]

（Women in Africa and the diaspora / series editors, Stanlie James, Aili Mari Tripp）

University of Wisconsin Press, 2010

• : pbk

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-325) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

African Women Writing Resistance is the first transnational anthology to focus on women's strategies of resistance to the challenges they face in Africa today. The anthology brings together personal narratives, testimony, interviews, short stories, poetry, performance scripts, folktales, and lyrics. Thematically organized, it presents women's writing on such issues as intertribal and interethnic conflicts, the degradation of the environment, polygamy, domestic abuse, the controversial traditional practice of female genital cutting, Sharia law, intergenerational tensions, and emigration and exile. Contributors include internationally recognized authors and activists such as Wangari Maathai and Nawal El Saadawi, as well as a host of vibrant new voices from all over the African continent and from the African diaspora. Interdisciplinary in scope, this collection provides an excellent introduction to contemporary African women's literature and highlights social issues that are particular to Africa but are also of worldwide concern. It is an essential reference for students of African studies, world literature, anthropology, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, and women's studies. A Choice Outstanding Academic Book Outstanding Book, selected by the Public Library Association Best Books for High Schools, Best Books for Special Interests, and Best Books for Professional Use, selected by the American Association of School Libraries

Table of Contents

Foreword Abena P.A. Busia Preface Acknowledgments African Women Writing Resistance: An Introduction Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez with Pauline Dongala, Omotayo Jolaosho, and Anne Serafin Part One. Engaging with Tradition The Day When God Changed His Mind Eve Zvichanzi Nyemba (Zimbabwe) The Old Woman J. Tsitsi Mutiti (Zimbabwe) Interview with Kaya a Mbaya, a Babongo Woman Pierre Piya-Bouanga (Congo) Interview with Elisabeth Bouanga Pauline Dongala (Congo) Part Two. Speaking Out: Young Women on Sexuality Woman Weep No More Sibongile Mtungwa (South Africa) Letters to My Cousin Catherine Makoni (Zimbabwe) Story of Faith Mamle Kabu (Ghana) ReMembering Africa Zindzi Bedu (Nigeria) It's Not Rape If . . . Ann Kithaka (Kenya) To Be or Not to Be a Lesbian: The Dilemma of Cameroon's Women Soccer Players Sybille Ngo Nyeck (Cameroon) My Name Is Kasha Kasha N. Jacqueline (Uganda) Cosmo Africa and Other Poems Cheshe Dow (Botswana) Part Three. Challenging the Institution of Marriage Child Ann Kithaka (Kenya) Hailstones on Zamfara Sefi Atta (Nigeria) The Good Woman Patricia Chogugudza (Zimbabwe) Ngomwa Ellen Mulenga Banda-Aaku (Zambia) They Came in the Morning Iheoma Obibi (Nigeria) The Battle of Words: Oratory as Women's Tool of Resistance to the Challenges of Polygamy in Contemporary Wolof Society Marame Gueye (Senegal) Part Four. Focusing on Survival: Women's Health Issues Tell Me Why: Two Poems Ann Kithaka (Kenya) Surviving Me Janine Lewis (South Africa) The Struggle to End the Practice of Female Genital Mutilation Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt) Slow Poison Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi (Cameroon) Just Keep Talking: Two Poems Cheshe Dow (Botswana) Tell Me a Lie Ann Kithaka (Kenya) Prayers and Meditation Heal Despair Pauline Dongala (Congo-Brazzaville) Part Five. Taking a Stand: Women as Activists against War, Environmental Degradation, and Social Conflict "A Poem Written in the Ink of the Blood Shed in Rwanda" and "Poet's Note: On Writing Poetry: Resistance, Transcendence and Survival" Nathalie Etoke (Cameroon) Excerpt from Biography of Ash Khadija Marouazi (Morocco) Women's Responses to State Violence in the Niger Delta Sokari Ekine (Nigeria) Excerpt from Child Soldier: Fighting for My Life China Keitetsi (Uganda) Don't Get Mad, Get Elected! A Conversation with Activist Wangari Maathai (Kenya) Danielle Nierenberg and Mia MacDonald Part Six. Writing from a Different Place: Perspectives on Exile and Diaspora Musings of an African Woman: Excerpts from a Memoir in Progress Kuukua Dzigbordi Yomekpe (Ghana) A Moroccan Woman in the G-local Village: Reflections on Islam, Identity, and Cultural Legacies Touria Khannous (Morocco) Knowing Your Place Diana Adesola Mafe (Nigeria) Letter to Clara Susan Akono (Cameroon) Part Seven. Standing at the Edge of Time: African Women's Visions of the Past, Present, and Future Roundtable: "We Are Our Grandmothers Dreams": African Women Envision the Future Pauline Dongala (Congo), Marame Gueye (Senegal), Omotayo Jolaosho (Nigeria), Nimu Njoya (Nigeria), and Abena P.A. Busia (Ghana) Liberation Abena P.A. Busia (Ghana) Suggestions for Further Reading Contributors

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BB11025605
• ISBN:
  • 9780299236649
• LCCN: 2009046345
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Madison, Wis.
• Pages/Volumes: xxi, 337 p.
• Size: 23 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PL8011
  • DC22 : 809/.8896
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : African literature -- Women authors -- 21st century
  • LCSH : Women authors, African
  • LCSH : Women -- Africa -- Social conditions -- 21st century -- Sources
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA74243793