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Summary - ENG2603 - Colonial And Postcolonial African Literatures
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Nervous Conditions sample essay
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QUESTION 2Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the upbringing of Tambudzai and
Nyasha in Nervous Conditions. Your discussion must include how their different
experiences inform their attitudes towards Western and Shona cultures.
SAMPLE ESSAY
In this essay, I shall compare and contrast the upbringing of Tambudzai and Nyasha in
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. My discussion will include the ways in which
their different experiences inform their attitudes towards Western and Shona cultures.
Tambu’s early upbringing occurs in a rural homestead, with poverty-stricken parents who
do not have any formal education. In contrast, her cousin Nyasha’s early upbringing reflects
the fact that her parents are economically advantaged, as they had obtained their Master’s
degrees in England. Their achievement was considered a rare feat due to the socio-cultural
and political constraints imposed on Blacks in in the African context of colonial Rhodesia,
the country that provides the setting of the novel.
Tambu’s father, Jeremiah, is depicted as exerting patriarchal power over his family in a
callous manner. He does not fulfil his traditional duty of providing for his family, as he is a
lazy farmer who depends to a large extent on hand-outs from his brother, Babamukuru, the
father of Nyasha. From a very young age, Tambu is aware of her mother, Ma’Shingayi’s
responsibilities as a Shona woman in a rural homestead. Her patriarchal upbringing also
dictates that, as a girl, she is expected to share in these tasks from a young age; by
working in the fields; cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and taking care of the younger
children of the family. According to Adrienne Rich (1986:179) patriarchy is ”the power of
the fathers: a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men, by force, direct
pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law, language, customs, etiquette, education, and the
division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play”. In the poor, rural
socio-cultural context of her upbringing, Tambu points out that the “needs and sensibilities
of women in my family were not considered a priority, or even legitimate (Dangarembga,
1988:12). Similarly, although Nyasha is not expected to carry out any laborious tasks, and
is not deprived of basic needs and educational opportunities, she and her mother are
subjected to the patriarchal dictates of Babamukuru. His authoritarianism in their mission
home is reinforced by the fact that he is the headmaster of the mission school.
During the first visit of this family to the rural homestead after their return from England, one
of the first contrasts between the cousins’ upbringing is highlighted in Tambu’s statement,
"I missed the bold, ebullient companion I had had who had gone to England but not
returned from there" (Dangarembga 1988: 51). In addition, she notices that Nyasha and her
brother Chido had forgotten how to speak Shona after becoming acculturated into English
norms. Tambu asks indignantly, "Shona was our language. What did people mean when
they forgot it? . . . I remembered them speaking freely and fluently before they went away,...
Now they had turned into strangers" (1988:42). During the visit, Nyasha’s mother Maiguru
, discreetly discourages her daughter from joining in the joyful, celebratory Shona customary
dancing. Her cultural ambivalence in this scene portends the development of her daughter’s
nervous condition at the mission. Thereafter, Nyasha’s experiences and viewpoints signify
an upbringing based on a mixture of Shona and English norms that would increasingly lead
to a conflicted and uncertain cultural identity. In contrast, Tambu does not experience any
cultural ambivalence at this stage of the narrative, despite her deep resentment of the
traditional Shona privileges her brother Nhamo enjoys as the male child of the family.
Tambu understands and sympathizes with her mother, Ma'Shingayi's predicament at the
poverty-stricken homestead. In contrast to her, Nyasha opposes her mother’s overt
demonstrations of submission to Babamukuru’s dictates and demands. Although Maiguru
does ultimately rebel to some extent, Nyasha is represented as continuously demonstrating
her rejection of her father’s domineering personality, and of often harming herself in the
process, with episodes of bulimia. In contrast to her, Chido enjoys the freedom and
privileges of being a male, in accordance with Shona norms. In a similar manner, Nhamo
had been granted the privilege of a mission school education before he had died, and had
taunted Tambu by asking, “Don’t you know I am the one who has to go to school?”
(1988:21). Thus, both Tambu and Nyasha occupy positions of disadvantage due to
patriarchal norms, despite the dissimilarities in their home locations and the early
circumstances of their upbringings. However, unlike Nyasha, Tambu had been forced to
assert her right to a formal education, as Jeremiah was scornful at the prospect of a
female having a school education. He selfishly observed that Tambu’s "sharpness with
her books is no use because in the end it will benefit strangers" (1988:56). Ma’Shingayi’s
upbringing of Tambu is also aimed at reinforcing the patriarchal norms that she has
internalized throughout her own life, and she supports her husband in this matter, despite
their fractious relationship.
In spite of the contrasting factors in their upbringings, both girls rebel increasingly against
cultural constraints, albeit in dissimilar ways. Tambu does so by being proactive in seeking
a formal education, deliberately working against her parents’ strong opposition. She
displays her tenacity and determination by selling mealies in order to afford the fees to
attend the rural school nearby. After Nhamo’s death, Tambu’s dream is realized when she
is unexpectedly selected by Babamukuru to uplift the status of her family by pursuing her
education at the mission school. At this stage of her life, she idolizes her uncle and does
not realize that he has shortcomings, since he has always contributed to the welfare of her
family. Therefore, after her arrival at the mission, Tambu treats her uncle with immense
reverence and gratitude, in contrast to Nyasha’s continuous questions regarding the
patriarchal attitudes and expectations that are imposed on her. Significantly, whilst Tambu
manages to avoid direct confrontations with Jeremiah, Naysha’s defiant attitude towards
Babamukuru leads to open clashes between them. As the primary patriarch of an
extended traditional Shona family, he is unwilling to take cognizance of the aspects of
Western social conditioning that his daughter had absorbed during the time spent by the
family in England, and he therefore compares her unfavourably with her cousin who had
recently arrived from the rural homestead. This is highlighted when Tambu states:
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