Interrogating Masculinities In Female-Authored Texts: A Critical Analysis Of Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainty Of Hope And Neshani Andreas’ The Purple Violet Of Oshaantu

ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the depiction of masculinities in Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainty of Hope

and Neshani Andreas’ The Purple Violet of Oshaantu. The portrayal of the male figures in

African women writing is an area which has not been given a lot of attention in gender writing.

The two novels were selected using purposive sampling as they portray an array of masculinities.

The researcher employed masculinities, nego-feminism and STIWANISM as literary theories to

underpin this study. Masculinities as a concept was used in order to magnify the construction of

the male identity as it has a lot of bearing on the character of men. Nego-feminism places both

genders side by side as men and women try to negotiate their spaces in life. STIWANISM

mirrors how the negotiated spaces between men and women bring about a transformed society in

which negative patriarchal values melt away. A qualitative research design was adopted to

interpret the portrayal of masculinities in the two novels. Content analysis was used to analyse

the two novels for the portrayal of the male characters. The study indicated that the male figures

identities are a product of a social construct which differs from community to community, and

are constantly subject to change. The study further noted that, as portrayed by Andreas and

Tagwira, some men are good and some exploit the patriarchal dividend of power and hold on to

the characteristics of hegemonic masculinity. Among other themes that came up in the research

are; emasculation of masculinity- reaction of thwarted personhood, the threatening scourge of

HIV/AIDS, alternative masculinity-egalitarian existence, patriarchal values; exploitation of

women, disinheritance of women and coping strategies in face of adversity. From the various

roles men play in the texts, it can be concluded that the two authors portray masculinities as they

are experienced in daily life where historical periods determine their different reactions to

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situations and particularly interesting is that there are indeed ‘good men’ who are role models

and the African women writers celebrate them.