Struggle for Survival: Female Masculinisation as Presented in Macgoye’s Coming to Birth and Victoria and Murder in Majengo

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Published: Feb 15, 2020
Keywords:
equity, masculinisation, patriarchal

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Maurice Simbili Mwichuli
Department of Literature, Linguistics and Foreign Languages, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Gloria Ajami Makokha
Department of Literature, Linguistics and Foreign Languages, Kenyatta University, Kenya

Abstract

In the patriarchal world, courage, vigor and strength are qualities often ascribed to men. In her two novels, Coming to Birth and Victoria and Murder in Majengo, Marjorie Oludhe MacGoye seeks to demystify this assumption by assigning these qualities to her female characters. This paper therefore aims at juxtaposing the female characters with the male characters in view of identity formation and fight for equity in society. Of major interest is how the female characters rise against the odds to live a life that rises against the societal misconceptions and limitations to a full life of value to the men and society at large. This is in the light of their contributions to fellow women and the society they live in. The tenets of deconstruction, a theory proposed by Jacque Derrida which seeks to unravel the various meanings of given texts, is used in the explication of the given texts.

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How to Cite
Struggle for Survival: Female Masculinisation as Presented in Macgoye’s Coming to Birth and Victoria and Murder in Majengo. (2020). Journal of Postcolonial Writing and World Literatures, 1(1), 4-14. https://royalliteglobal.com/world-literatures/article/view/49
Issue
Vol. 1 No. 1 (2020)
Section
Articles
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How to Cite

Struggle for Survival: Female Masculinisation as Presented in Macgoye’s Coming to Birth and Victoria and Murder in Majengo. (2020). Journal of Postcolonial Writing and World Literatures, 1(1), 4-14. https://royalliteglobal.com/world-literatures/article/view/49

References

Brooks, P. (1984). Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative. New York: Knopf

Childs, P. & Fowler, R. (2006). The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Routledge

Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities 2nd Edition. Los Angeles: University of California Press

MacGoye, M. O. (1996). Coming to Birth. Nairobi: E. A. E. P.

MacGoye, M. O. (1993). Victoria and Murder in Majengo. Nairobi: Macmillan

Makokha, G. A. (2015). The African woman in Coming to Birth: a critical analysis of Kenya’s liberation as depicted by the woman’s liberation in society. Educ. Res. 6(1), 1-12

Masculinization. (ibid) In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th Edition). Retrieved from http://www.m-w.com/dictionary

Kowino, H. C. (2013). From Victims to Agents: Rethinking Motherhood and Feminism. Journal of African Literature Association. 8(1)