ADAKUT. ANKUMAH

WOMEN IN REVOLUTION/REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN? A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT GENDER AND STRUGGLE IN SELECTED WORKS OF NGUGI WA THIONG'O AND AIMI~ CI~SAIRE

Revolutionary activists have traditionally not considered women a potential revolutionary force since revolutions are generally considered a masculine activity. Even when women have joined the ranks of the revolutionaries, they are not wholly accepted by the predominantly male group who regard their contribution as negligible. So-called progressive writers like Jean-Paul Sartre do not escape from this unfavorable characterization of women in revolution. In his play Dirty Hands (Les mains sales), a play which focuses on contemporary politics and set in an imaginary formerly Eastern European country, a young bourgeois intellectual named Hugo Barine is forced to kill the secretary of the Communist Party, Hoederer because the secretary is in favor of cooperating with their political enemies, the Conservatives and Fascists. Hugo, though, is distrusted by the Party officials like Louis because of his bourgeois background. His former girlfriend and Party member Olga teaches Hugo the fundamentals of revolutionary ideology and encourages him when the leaders of their group give him up as a good-for-nothing intellectual anarchist. However, she is considered emotionally and intellectually inferior by Hoederer because she is a woman. He expresses this position in a lecture he gives Hugo after they have determined that it was a woman who threw the abortive bomb into his office: Hoederer:

Do you know why she missed us? I'll bet she shut her eyes when she threw the bomb.

Hugo:

Why?

0324~4652/97/$5.00 9 Akaddmiai Kiadd

AkadEmiai Kiadr, Budapest John Benjamins B. V., Amsterdam

306

A D A K U T. A N K U M A H

Hoederer:

Becauseof the noise. They close their eyes so as not to hear it; explain it any way you like. Women are all afraid of loud noises, the little mice, otherwisethey'd make remarkable killers. They're pigheaded, you know. They get their ideas ready-made, and then they believe in them as in God. (Sartre 231)

Olga and w o m e n in general are thus presented as naive individuals w h o cannot act on their own, but rather accept r e a d y - m a d e ideas from men. Hoederer also has no interest in the subject o f w o m e n ' s emancipation, taking the traditional Marxist position that w o m e n ' s grievances are part o f the larger issues facing exploited people. A b i o s e h Porter, one critic who examines the relationship between i d e o l o g y and the portrayal of wotnen submits that a writer's ideology (as it is implicitly revealed in the literary text), and not that writer's sex, helps determine the sexual images within the text. Looking at an authors' ideological stance rather than at his or her biological identity as a clue to an understanding of that author's manner of characterization will not only help clarify how characters are described, but (perhaps more importantly), why they are shown in the way they are ... (63). Though this position may apply to some authors, objections could be raised to this observation since this marginalization o f w o m e n prevails in the works o f so-called progressive authors like A i m 6 Crsaire whose plays are politically motivated and seek the liberation o f his race. Crsaire has elaborated on this b y asserting that his theater is "not an individual or individualist theater, for it always presents the fate of the whole (italics mine) c o m m u n i t y " (qtd. in Bradby, 146). Unfortunately, half of this c o m m u n i t y does not receive favorable treatment. C6saire' s women characters either stand in the way of revolution or continue the traditional roles assigned them b y patriarchal society. Ngugi, on the other hand, subverts the traditional role of male revolutionary activists to create female characters who are actively involved in the revolutionary struggle. C r s a i r e ' s unrevolutionary treatment o f w o m e n does not escape critic C16ment M b o m who seeks an explanation to this. Though M b o m recognizes the presence of a few militant w o m e n in African history, he considers the majority of African w o m e n to b e preserv-

W O M E N 1N REVOLUTION

307

ers who are concerned with reproduction and producing economically to sustain the life of their families. This preserving role, according to him, conflicts with that of the revolutionary who is concerned, in a way, with the destruction of one system to build another. In this respect, C6saire, to him, is being realistic in not portraying women who are involved in the struggle for freedom because in real life, the role of women makes them cautious, even suspicious, of change. Be that as it may, the argument of realism is not enough to explain this treatment of women in the works of Crsaire. To appropriate Lorraine Hansberry's words in To be Young, Gifted and Black, realism does not always have to be what is, but may also be what can be (228). The author has the choice of selection and can use this to represent what he considers possible. The consistently traditional portrayal of women in his plays makes one wonder whether indeed he considers revolution an undertaking women can meddle in. Crsaire's portrayal of Mama Makosi inA Season in Congo raises the reader/spectator's expectation to anticipate a woman who is going to contribute effectively to the struggle for independence. At the beginning of the play, she is referred to as the "Mighty Madame", a title which prepares the reader/audience for a character who is going to have an important role in the unfolding drama. There is even some authority in her first speech. A group of Africans gathered at a local bar are informed by Mokutu that Lumumba, the leader of their party, has been arrested by the Belgians. Unsure about what action to take, Mokutu solicits suggestions. One woman, who appears quite militant, suggests a strike as their reaction to the imprisonment of their leader. Mama Makosi quickly intervenes to kill the idea, convincing them that since their colonizers like money, it would be more effective to work to raise the bail, get Lumumba out of jail and send him to represent them at the conference table in Brussels. From this first encounter, one is tempted to compare her to powerful market women like Selina in Peter Abraham's A Wreath for Udomo who controlled the party and provided vital assistance to

308

ADAKU X, ANKUMAH

various nationalist and revolutionary movements. Mama Makosi, however, does not measure up to the stature of any of these women. In fact, she hardly says or does anything concrete in the subsequent scenes in which she appears. Certainly, she offers emotional support to Lumumba who visits her brothel from time to time; also when he is released from prison, her house provides safety for the deposed Prime Minister for some time. Politically, though, she is inconsequential to the plot. She panics when paratroopers, seeking to re-arrest Lumumba, surround her house. Thus prepared by the playwright to expect a powerful woman who would contribute to the struggle to maintain the then Congo on its feet, we are faced with an emotional individual who shies away from action and rather enjoys the privilege of personal association with those in authority. The other woman of any importance in A Season in the Congo is Lumumba's wife, Pauline, who plays the traditional role of a wife of a political leader. As such, she is not involved with the affairs of government, but she takes care of the home whilst her husband directs the affairs of state. Her role can be compared to that of the wife of Julie, wife of Danton in Georg Btichner's Danton's Death who also continues the traditional role of women as comforters and sources of encouragement. Julie' s sacrificial love for her husband, her admiration and idolization of him appear incredible, given his detachment from her. In fact, the relationship between them in one-sided, if not parasitic - - Julie giving all the love and devotion and Danton drawing on what he knows to be a constant supply of love and acceptance. Pauline Lumumba, unlike Julie Danton, though, reacts against her husband' s involvement in politics which has led to his neglect of his wife and children: Admit, Patrice, that I never tumed you aside from your duty, but Africa is not your wife. You have other.responsibilities besides the weal and woe of Africa.... I haven't got the name of a country or a river. I've got the name of a woman: Pauline. That's all I have to say. Except one question: Do you want the people to see me with my head shaved, following a funeral procession? And the children? Do you want them to be orphans? (86-87; 3.2)

WOMEN IN REVOLUTION

309

To Lumumba, though, Pauline and Congo go together. In his own mind, it is the juxtaposition of the two which sustains him. Though not involved in politics, she is more intuitive than her husband. Her intuition, however, is presented as a feminine trait, not a result of political insight: "Oh, you women. So cynical. Always fearing the worst", Lumumba remarks. As an idealist who wants to usher in a better society for his people, Patrice Lumumba sometimes fails to consider the reality of his position. In his enthusiasm, he assumes that all share his vision. For example, he considers the people the most important part of the revolution and intends to serve them twenty-four hours a day. Most of his cabinet, however, do not share his enthusiasm for hard work. Even the ordinary citizens are impatient with him, expecting the fruit of independence in three months ! Pauline is painfully aware of the ficklemindedness of the people; anyone can take advantage of them. She even warns her husband of Mokutu as a possible traitor, but he dismisses her suspicion. In the end, she becomes a Cassandra whose predictions are not taken seriously; Lumumba is deposed by the very people he trusted so much and handed over to the secessionists by his one-time friend, Mokutu. Pauline, as she feared, is widowed. In Et les chiens se taisaient, Crsaire's poetic drama where the Rebel is imprisoned for murdering his master, the Lover and Mother are more open in their opposition to the revolutionary path taken by the Rebel. They are convinced he is not dying for a worthy cause, but rather for his stubbornness, and therefore, both set out to dissuade him from accepting his death, which they consider an unnecessary waste. The Lover's strategies include challenging the practicality of his actions and its success. This is rebutted by the Rebel who sees his action as only a beginning. His aim is to ignite the revolutionary flame in his compatriots so they will carry on from where he leaves off. Having failed to convince the Rebel, the Lover uses another tactic-love-not the abstract notion, but the sensual type which is more difficult to resist. In her encounter with the Rebel, she re-

310

A D A K U T. A N K U M A H

peats the phrase "hold me" several times, as if the touch of her warm body will cause him to change his mind. She then goes on to invoke tender scenes a loving couple looks forward to: the birth o f a child, keeping wake at night to care for this child. For these moments, she pleads for life. The Rebel counterbalances this vision of life with the misery around him: two black orphans at the brink of death. For their sake, he is ready to sacrifice private dreams of love and family for the future of his race. The mother proves to be a stronger force to resist; in the mind of the rebel, her coming is a powerful tool of the enemy to break his resistance. She vacillates between tenderness and harshness to weaken her son's resolve. First, she presents herself as a distressed mother who has come to plead with her son. When that fails, she deals with him as a mother dealing with a wayward son. Two lines later she resolves to tenderness and finally to confrontation. She is concerned about the present and immediate future, that is a son to bury her. Unsuccessful in her mission, she faints in the end, which gives opportunity to some voices to accuse him of having killed his mother in addition to murdering his master. Once again, public duty prevails over maternal love. Ngugi and Micere Mugo, however, adopt a different attitude towards women's role in revolutions in their creation of the character referred to as the Woman in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi. This play is constructed around the trial and conviction of one of the famous leaders of the Mao-Mao revolution, Dedan Kimathi, with the woman as one of the important military leaders of the group. Definitely not a sex object, she is characterized as a fearless, versatile woman who combines the roles of mother and fighter in one. Typical portrayals of female warriors normally adopt one of these two extremes. There is the portrait of what Sharon Macdonald refers to as the "caricatures of 'over-masculine', 'unnatural' women (~t la Amazons) (6). Then there is the second picture of a thoroughly feminine individual who is more concerned about motherhood and other womanly issues. The Woman is neither of these. Her biological function of a mother is given little attention

WOMEN 1N REVOLUTION

311

by the authors, for she is never seen in a family situation or with her children. Her motherly role is demonstrated more in her attitude towards the youth in the play, and this does not negate her revolutionary stance as an arms-bearing warrior. Though the characterization of the Woman reflects the Marxist ideology of the playwrights, the major influence in her portrayal was furnished by strong, determined women in Kenyan history who have fought against different forms of subjugation. One such woman, Me Katilili, in her seventies refused to accept British imperialism, and in 1913-14, organized the Giriama youth in a struggle against the British colonial administration. She was arrested, detained and even labelled a witch, but she did not give in. Another woman, Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru, led a demonstration of workers in the 1920s to demand the release of Harry Thuku, a Kenyan leader of a workers' movement who had dared to demand the end of such oppressive acts as forced labor, carrying identity cards and high taxes. Tabitha Kanogo, in an account about Nyanjiru in her essay "Kikuyu Women and the Mau-Mau" narrates how she resulted to traditional insult. This involved exposing her genitals to male leaders who wanted to compromise with the Colonial Secretary. She later challenged them: You take my dress and give me your trousers (symbol of male authority) You men are cowards. What are you waiting for? Our leader is in there, let us get him. (qtd. in Macdonald et al. 82)

Eventually, she was shot, together with about 150 others, but not without forcing the men to recognize women's leadership. Such political role models would influence women who took part in the so-called Mau-Mau rebellion three decades later. Though initially constrained by stereotypical roles of women in traditional societies, Mau-Mau women proved to be equally tenacious in the struggle and were able to take on traditionally masculine roles. In his Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare, Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana, emphasizes the role of women in the revolutionary struggle in Africa. He is of the opinion that "the degree

312

A D A K U T+ A N K U M A H

of a c o u n t r y ' s revolutionary awareness may be measured by the political maturity o f its women". Certainly, N g u g i and M u g o ' s W o m a n is a female warrior whose achievements earn her a place of equality among the male warriors and make her a s y m b o l o f the emancipated woman. There are revolutionary armies where w o m e n are accepted as warriors, but their abilities and talents are underutilized because o f gender; thus they are treated as second-class citizens. The W o m a n in The Trial ofDedan Kimathi, is not treated as the "other", excluded from serious deliberations. W h e n Kimathi is faced with the difficult decision of what to do with the defectors in their army, which includes his own brother, he turns to the W o m a n for her opinion, and she opts for the ideologically pure path: It pains the woman in me toot Thinking of the past And the dear ones we left behind Can weaken our resolve You are a leader of A revolution You must decide But remember All the others Have left their wives, Their children, Their mothers, Behind The W o m a n is also involved in the overall military strategy o f the M a u - M a u freedom fighters. For instance, she is very much involved in intelligence, using her mobility as a market trader as a cover for the carrying of arms, messages and intelligence reports for those in the forest. She does not hesitate to use traditional feminine characteristics to advance the cause of the Mau-Mau. A case in point involves an incident when she encounters a white soldiers whilst carrying a gun hidden in a loaf of bread. W h e n Johnnie, the white soldier takes her bread, she goes on her knees, imploring him to spare the bread since, as a poor woman, that is all she has to eat. Though Johnnie is suspicious ("You look like a Mau Mau. Like one of them, Kimathi women. Wanjiru, they call her. She was

WOMEN IN REVOLUTION

313

lean, wiry and strong. Fought like a tiger in the battle of the Beehive. No wonder the terrorists made her a Colonel. 10), her feminine supplication is hard to resist: Woman: Don't eat it. Bwana. Afande a hundred times. It's all I have to quieten the enemy who is finishing us. Johnnie: Enemy? Woman: Hunger.If you take it, I'll die. I spent so many hours kneading the heavy millet paste. Look. You have almost finished all my bananas. You deserve to die. Have mercy on a poor woman. (11) Even in the midst of this exaggerated act put up to deceive the soldier, the issue of the liberation of her people, which comes out in the double meaning, is foremost in her mind. Another role assumed by the woman is that of the teacher. Some may argue this role still perpetuates gender distinctions since teaching is generally considered a natural female profession. In the absence of male fighters who are in hiding in the forest, this dedicated woman sees the youth as a great asset to the future o f the movement. The education of the youth to attain political understanding is no demeaning task: indeed, it is imperative for the survival of the revolution. The choice of the woman as a teacher is significant because of all the other characters in the play, she seems to be imbued with great wisdom and insights into the problems o f her country under colonialism. This has led one critic to label her as the "moral conscience", "the other part of the creative or societal productive principle which must unite successfully with Kimathi" (Nwankwo 89). Her analysis of the colonial situation in her country follows standard Marxist lines; it is not so much concerned about special interests based on gender, race or color but on the broader issue of equality for all, be they white, black, yellow, or red, male or female. As an effective teacher, she does not simply load ideas on the young people. On the contrary, she uses their daily experience of alienation and exploitation in the city, where "dogs, cats, girls, boys" all fight for the rotten food that is thrown into the garbage to make them aware that there is a problem with a political system that creates such conditions. Her goal is for the

314

ADAKU T, ANKUMAH

Boy and Girl to reach a crucial recognition of the complexities of the colonial system by themselves. Thus when the Boy fails to grasp the full implication of the plight of the masses, she leaves him with the words: The day you understand why your father died: the day you ask yourself: 'What can I do so that another shall not be made to die under such grisly circumstances?',that day, my son, you'll becomea man. Just now, you are a beast and the girl is right to call you a brute. (19) These calculated words prove to be effective in the politicization of the Boy. Using the stage device of an echo, the admonition of the Woman echoes back to him in time of a personal crisis. Faced with the truth that he is carrying a gun in the bread, and with his courage failing because of the fear of the consequences of being caught with a gun, he alone hears the voice of the Woman. He is temporarily mesmerized by her voice; however, his confidence in the cause is restored, and he does not look back again from that moment. He is spurred into action by this tireless, committed Woman. Though the two Kenyan playwrights break the traditional mold in portraying this female character, recent gender criticism of African literature does not view Ngugi's portrayal of women as positive. In Contemporary African Literature and the Politics of Gender, Florence Stratton castigates Ngugi for his class consciousness which leaves him with "masculine" female characters. A comment made largely in reference to Devil on the Cross, it can be applied to his works in general, since Stratton considers that novel as one of the "important new departure[s]" in contemporary African literature. Another critic in particular sees women merely as "icons" in Ngugi's works since he does not challenge the patriarchal power structure of society which relegated them to positions of inferiority in the first place. By putting class above gender, argues Elleke Boehmer, women once again must wait "on the sidelines" till the struggle ushers in a new social order, or appropriate guns, "the quintessential emblem of phallic power" and fight as "glorified revolutionaries, inspiring symbols for a male struggle" (195). Both

WOMEN IN REVOLUTION

315

Boehmer and Stratton are doing exactly what they accusing Ngugi of doing: using one category to analyze the complex problems faced by women in so-called developing countries. In their case, it is gender, and in Ngugi and Mugo's play, class consciousness. As Marxists, the playwrights are not the only ones to use class. African Marxists like female critic Molara Ogundipe-Leslie have used the same argument. Indeed in an article on "Women in Nigeria", Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, also a feminist critic and poet, reiterates this same position: As women's liberation is but an aspect of the need to liberate the total society from dehumanization and the loss of fundamental human rights, it is the social system which must change. (129)

To Ogundipe-Leslie, problem arises when men seek to delay or deny these inevitable changes. In the same way as these western critics want Ngugi and others like him to subordinate class to gender, female, non-European critics would also like to see gender put in its right perspective. Cheryl Johnson-Odim puts it very well when she asserts that gender is "insufficient to redress the oppression of Third World women" (315). Ogundipe-Leslie has also listed "six mountains" on the back of the African woman; gender alone does not take care of all. Even Boehmer and Stratton have to agree that there is a conscious attempt by Ngugi to include positive role models of women in his works, especially the latter works. Ideology alone may not lead a committed writer to portray positive female characters fighting for a more equitable society. Though Aim6 Crsaire is one of the founders of negritude, a movement which sought to rehabilitate the image of black people around the world, his egalitarian vision of society does not include black women. In The Trial ofDedan Kimathi, the revolutionary enterprise is seen as a collective undertaking by men, women and children with women sometimes playing active roles in working for change. The two playwrights prove that women can function outside the domestic realm and contribute significantly, like their male counterparts, to

316

AD A K U T. A N K U M A H

t h e s t r u g g l e for f r e e d o m . In this way, t h e W o m a n c a n b e s e e n as a conscious creation of the authors, a projection of their vision of w h a t t h e A f r i c a n w o m a n s h o u l d be: a s h a r p a n d p e r c e p t i v e i n d i v i d u a l w i t h a s t r o n g d e t e r m i n a t i o n to j o i n h e r c o u n t r y m e n in s t r u g g l i n g a g a i n s t all f o r m s o f i n j u s t i c e in s o c i e t y . WORKS CITED Boehmer, Elleke. "The Master's Dance to the Master's Voice: Revolutionary Nationalism and the Representation of Women in the Writing of Ngugi wa Thiong'o." Journal of Commonwealth Literature 26.1 (1991): 188-197. Bradby, David. Modern French Drama 1940-1980. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984. Ctsaire, Aim& A Season in the Congo. Trans. Ralph Manheim. New York: Grove, 1969. --. Lyric and Dramatic Poetry. Trans. Clayton Eshleman and Annette Smith. Charlotteville: Univ. of Virginia Press, 1990. Hansberry, Lorraine. To be Young, Gifted and Black. Adapt. Robert Nemiroff. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1969, 228. Johnson-Odim, Cheryl. "Common Themes, Different Contexts: Third World Women and Feminism". in Chandra T. Mohanty, Ann Russo and Lourdes Torres, eds. Third Worm Women and the Politics of Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1991. Macdonald, Sharon et al., eds. Images of Women in War and Peace. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1987, 82. Mbom, Clement. Le theatre d'Aimd Cdsaire. Paris: Fernand Nathan, 1979. Nkrumah, Kwame. Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare. New York: International, 1969. Nwankwo, Chimalum. "Women in Ngugi's Plays: From Passivity to Social Responsibility." Ufahamu: Journal of the African Activist Association, 14.3 (1985): 85-92. Ogundipe-Leslie, Molara. "Women in Nigeria." Women in Nigeria Today, Zed, 1985. Porter, Abioseh. "Ideology and the Image of Women: Kenyan Women in Njau and Ngugi.'" Ariel, 12.3 (1981): 61-74. Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit and Other Plays. Trans. Stuart Gilbert. New York: Vintage, 1955. 131-248. Stratton, Florence. Contemporary African Literature and the Politics of Gender. New York: Routledge, 1994. wa Thiong'o Ngugi and Micere Githae Mugo. The Trial ofDedan Kimathi. London: Heinemann, 1976.