The community and the self: Patriarchy, female genital mutilation, and the quest for identity in Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy and Osman Conteh’s Unanswered Cries

Authors

Keywords:

Community, Female Genital Mutilation, Identity, Self, Patriarchy

Abstract

Female genital mutilation is a major controversial issue which has generated and continues to generate oftentimes acrimonious debates within feminist literaryand anthropological cycles. This paper joins the ever-vibrant conversation on theissue of female identity in a conservative patriarchal setup. It examines femalegenital mutilation and the quest for identity in Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy and Osman Conteh’s Unanswered Cries from a feminist perspective. It shows that the two authors see female genital mutilation (FGM) as the most glaring manifestation ofpatriarchy’s objectification and oppression of women. The two authorssee patriarchy as a monolithic system which forces these communities toabide by its precepts. As such Tashi’s action in Possessing theSecret of Joy and Olabisi’s in Unanswered Cries are nothing short ofrevolutionary. Their rebellion against socialconformism exemplified by the practice of FGM, and their option for freedom andself-determination can be seen as a quest for an individual identity in communitieswhere individual identities have all been subsumed into one collective identity. Byfighting against an obnoxious, but common practice like FGM, Tashi and Olabisihave become the torchbearers of the feminist fight for freedom and identity.

Dimensions

Abusharaf, R. M. (2001). Virtuous cuts: Female genital mutilation in an African ontology. Differences: Journal of Feminist Studies, 12(1), 112-140.

Brooks, G. (1995). Nine parts of desire. Anchor Books.

Conteh, O. (2002). Unanswered cries. Macmillan Education.

Guerin, W. L. et al. (1992). A handbook of critical approaches to literature. (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Hosken, F. (1993). The Hosken report: Genital and sexual mutilation of females. Cambridge University Press.

Kenyatta, J. (1992). Facing mount Kenya. Vintage Books.

Laurenson, D. T. and Alan S. (1971). The sociology of literature. MacGibbon and Kee.

Lightfoot-Klein, H. (1989a) Prisoners of ritual: An odyssey into female genital mutilation in Africa. Harrington Park Press.

Lightfoot-Klein, H (1989b). The sexual experience and marital adjustment of genitally circumcised and infibulated females in the Sudan. The Journal of Sex Research, 26(3), 375-392.

Menkim, H. (1997). Alice Walker and the paradox of writing. Yale University Press.

Nontsasa, N. (2001). Possessing the voice of the other: African women and the crisis of representation in Alice Walker’s Possessing the secret of joy. Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies, 1(2), 136-152.

Olakunle, G.(2001). Alice Walker’s Africa: Globalisation and the province of fiction. Comparative Literature 53, Duke University Press, 354-372.

Saadawi, N. E. (1993).The hidden face of Eve: Women in the Arab world. (Trans. Sherif Hetata). Zed Books Ltd.

Strong-Leek, L. (2009). Excising the spirit: A literary analysis of female circumcision. Africa World Press.

Thiam, A. (1978). Black sisters speak out: Feminism and oppression in Africa. Pluto Press.

Tsaelon, E. (1997). The mask of feminity. Sage Publications.

Walker, A. (1993). Possessing the secret of joy. Simon and Schuster.

Walker, A., and Pratibha P. (1996). Warrior marks: Female genital mutilation and the sexual blinding of women. Harcourt Brace and Company.

Published

2021-02-27

How to Cite

Tiambei, F. (2021). The community and the self: Patriarchy, female genital mutilation, and the quest for identity in Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy and Osman Conteh’s Unanswered Cries. Journal of Postcolonial Writing and World Literatures, 2(1), 18-31. Retrieved from https://royalliteglobal.com/world-literatures/article/view/517

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Articles
Copyright & Licensing

Copyright (c) 2021 Francis Tiambei

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC-SA) license.

You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. 

Under the following terms: 

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. 

No additional restrictions You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.