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Agatucci, Cora. Lecture.
English 339: Discussion on the book titled Nervous Conditions and the
film Chocolat . OSU Cascades Campus, Bend, OR. 14 May 2003.
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This
lecture covered how the book titled Nervous Conditions, written by Tsitsi
Dangarembga, displays the oppressed side of a people and culture who are
colonized, while the film Chocolat, directed by Claire Denis, gives the
viewer a look at the other side. The side of the colonizers-the
oppressors. Some of Agatucci's main points were that, "Post colonial
peoples have been written out of history." She also discussed how the
characters in Dangarembga's book are "being made to give up their identities,
resulting in the colonization of the mind." Agatucci further explained how
the plot of this novel is liberation, the liberation of self by being able to
tell the formation of self allows a person to reclaim their identity-not only
for themselves, but for their nation. In doing this they are also able to
invent history that was never written down.
This discussion/lecture was
excellent in helping me to gain a better knowledge of Tsitsi Dangarembga's
purpose for writing her book and how colonization damages everyone-both the
colonized and colonizers.
Everett discusses eight
different European films throughout the body of this article and argues that a
new film genre is emerging. She says that it's an autobiographical genre,
since all of the films she chooses to discuss are expressions of the director's
past life. Everett states that this is a type of film genre that is based
all on the director's memory and so the audience has to believe the past as true
through how the director remembered it. Everett mentions Claire Denis'
film Chocolat as an example of this new autobiographical film genre
because Denis claims to have been compelled to make Chocolat largely
because of her subconscious need to explore the guilt she feels at having been a
white child reared in a colonial world. According to, Everett this is why
in the film Chocolat the audience can see the national guilt merge, both
within the film's narrative and through the fact that the child is actually
named France.
Overall, this source was
informative and has an interesting argument for a new film genre, but it didn't
really contribute a great deal to my final project.
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George, Rosemary Marang, and
Scott, Helen. “An Interview with Tsitsi Dangarembga”. Novel: A Forum on
Fiction Spring. 1993. 8 May 2003 <Ebsco>. 1-11.
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In this interview with Tsitsi
Dangarembga, which took place at the African Writers Festival, Helen Scott and
Rosemary Marangoly-George talked with her about a wide range of topics from
readers' responses on Nervous Conditions to what it takes for a
writer to feel at home in a language and in a genre. This source in the
introduction gives some background on Dangarembga's life, such as, where she
studied, where she lived at different points in her life, and some of the
obstacles that she had to face in the publishing industry just to get her book
out into the public. A point that Dangarembga stresses in this interview
is that, "she has moved from a somewhat singular consideration of gender
politics to an appreciation of the complexities of the politics of postcolonial
subject-hood." Dangarembga does not just have a feminist agenda, even
though the critical reception to this novel tends focus on it.
This source was neat in the
way it gave Dangarembga's actual responses to questions about the characters she
chose to create and what they represent to her. The reader even gets a bit
of insight into what life is like for her in Zimbabwe before and after her
publishing.
This site
offers
original, free, high quality web graphics for use in web page development and
design. In return though, for use of their free designs they ask you to
provide a link back to their site on the web page where their designs are.
Graphics by Dezign has free high quality LINKWARE graphics that can be used on
homepages and commercial pages as well. Every week this site is updated or
added to, so that they always have new designs available. This site also
has great links to other free web design sources.
For me, this was the easiest
site to download a template from because they allow you to just cut an paste it
into your webpage instead of downloading it in the form of a Zip file.
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Hill, Janice E. “Purging a
Plate Full of Colonial History: The ‘Nervous Conditions’ of Silent Girls”.
College Literature Feb 1995. 10 May 2003 <Ebsco>. 1-14.
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Hill examines the characters
Tambu and Nyasha, explaining how each one is rebellious to the silence that they
are expected to keep. She goes on to claim that the only cure for the
rebellion that these girls are expressing is independence from colonialism,
since their physical and psychological illnesses are symptomatic of colonialism.
Hill provides her audience with interesting facts such as, where Dangarembga got
the idea for the title of her book and the meaning behind it. This article
gives great insight into the themes of victimization and the disruption of
balance that take place throughout the novel. In addition to exploring the
characters Tambu and Nyasha, Hill adds in some valuable points about Babamukuru
as well.
This article was an easy read
and was elaborate with its discussion on the character Nyasha's anorexia and
bulimia. None of the other sources that I've found were as in depth on the
character Nyasha as this one, so it was valuable to my research.
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Okonkwo, Christopher. “Space
Matters: Form and Narrative in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions”.
Research in African Literatures Summer 2003. 8 May 2003 <Ebsco> 53-74.
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The author of this article,
Christopher Okonkwo takes a unique analytical look at the representation of
space in Tsitsi Dangarembga's book Nervous Conditions. "The novel
came out at a moment in Zimbabwean history when there was little supportive
space for women in the country who wished to write themselves into the public
sphere and discourse by pursuing publishing careers, particularly in the English
language." Okonkwo uses this fact as a springboard into his discussion of
space. He provides detailed explanations of direct quotes from the book to
prove his theories on "how space matters." Okonkwo makes references to
other works, such as Biman Basu's essay titled, Trapped and Troping:
Allegories of the Transnational Intellectual, to further support his ideas
on the symbolism of space throughout Dangarembga's novel.
I found this source to be
extremely helpful in learning about another dimension to Tsitsi Dangarembga's
novel, and liked the writing style of Okonkwo-clear and concise.
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Saliba, Therese. “On the Bodies of
Third World Women:
Cultural Impurity, Prostitution, and Other Nervous Conditions”. College
Literature Feb. 1995. 8 May 2003 <Ebsco>. 1-18. |
This source examines the
novels Woman at Point Zero, written by the Egyptian author Nawal El
Saadawi and Nervous Conditions, authored by Tsitsi Dangarembga. In the
discussion of these novels, Saliba creates connections to how these two works
include explanations of "problematic social conditions facing postcolonial
women." Other topics of interest that appear in these two novels, which Saliba
explains in depth are: the third world women’s experience, sexual corruption of
lower-class women, and gender and class oppression.
In reviewing this source, I
found it to be helpful in explaining the condition of the character Nyasha.
Saliba’s writing style is easy to understand and I very much liked the way she
compared these two novels. It aided me with some ideas on how to layout my
own comparative study project.
Sandars, the author of this
article, discusses how the film's structure prioritizes the role of memory,
allowing the narrator to lead the audience into the past world of colonialism.
The film is thought of as unique by Sandars because it's Claire Denis'
directorial debut and because it's portrayed from the perspective of a female
ex-colonizer. The role of food in the movie is brought up and is thought
by Sanders to humorously represent the differing colonial powers that have
marked Africa. Also the significance of the film using the older France
and the character Mungo in the opening and ending of the film is examined.
An excellent source for
anyone needing information on the symbolism behind certain scenes throughout the
movie and the roles of characters.
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Uwakweh, Pauline Ada.
“Debunking Patriarchy: The Liberational Quality of Voicing in Tsitsi
Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions”. Research in African
Literatures Spring 1995. 7 May 2003 <Ebsco>. 76-83.
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The author, Pauline Ada
Uwakweh argues in this article that, "silence is used as a patriarchal weapon of
control." She further explains how, "voicing is self-defining, liberational, and cathartic." Uwakweh also gives some descriptions of how
culturally African women are treated as "second-class citizens" relating this idea
to instances in Dangarembga's novel. She extensively explores the theme of
male dominance in Tsitsi Dangarembga's novel and states that the character
Tambudzai is the reader's guide to this patriarchal society. Tambudzai,
as narrator is considered by Uwakweh to be in an interpretive position. A
position that provides a perspective that is necessary for the reader's
appreciation of the new insights she acquires about her experience as a female
in a patriarchal and colonial society.
This article's strength was
its information about what is the expected role of a woman in African society
and giving direct quotes from Dangarembga's novel that display this.
Villella, in this article, focuses on how the element of post-colonialism in the film Chocolat involves a process
of reflecting, re-assembling and remembering the colonial and pre-colonial past.
"It provides a moment of liberation insofar as it enables the recognition of
pre-colonial culture and language, and a moment to reformulate identity and
experience not based on Western Eurocentric discourses." Villella also
discusses the significance of the film being from a colonial context and
directed by a white French film director, Claire Denis. The friendship
between France and Protee is explored referring to specific scenes throughout
the movie. Villella describes the film as a "complex and fragile"
reflection on past colonial relations.
This article was a great
source, since it offered more in depth information on the characters France and Protee and explained more than any of my other sources about their hybrid
identities.
This free web design site
offers great templates, tutorials, and a glossary of common terms for the 'beginning web creator."
The definitions in the glossary are put into simple layman's terms so that the
reader doesn't have to know all of the technical jargon for web designing to
understand the meanings. The tutorials are easy to follow because the
directions are clear and concise.
What I liked best about this
site is the glossary of terms and the tutorials because they're not hard to
understand. The directions are simple and easy to follow in the tutorials.
You are here: Annotated Bibliography
URL of this webpage:
http://www.cocc.edu/wr316ca/amberk/term_project/annotated_bib.htm
Last revised:10 July 2003
Copyright ©
Amber Kinzer, 2003
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