Transmutation and Temporality: Shifting Figures of African Women in Jennifer Makumbi’s Historical Novel Kintu (2014)
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Date
2021-02-02
Authors
Muneen, Jeremiah M.
. Mbithi, Esther K
Makokha, Justus K. S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT)
Abstract
The role of African women writers in employing the unique style of presenting several
generations of women characters in the same historical novel to narrate how the
world of women has been transformed across time cannot be naysaid. Through this
style, female authors have been able to re-examine, re-construct, re-structure and reinvent the (mis)representation of female gender as construed by male authors who
were the first to acquire formal education and embark in creative writing. Thus the
choice of this distinctive style often serves as an important marker of backdating the
true depiction of women across the historical trajectory as well as demonstrating the
gainful transmutation that women have gone through towards their liberation from
the chains of patriarchy. Among the African women writers who have adopted this
style is Jeniffer Makumbi the author of Kintu. Grounded in both New historicist and
feminist theoretical frameworks, we interrogate how women have gradually and
gainfully changed towards liberation across the four epochs specific to Africa; namely:
Pre-colonial, Colonial, postcolonial and contemporary. Using purposively selected
Jenniffer Makumbi’s novel – Kintu – the article provides a textual analysis of the
behaviours, speeches and actions exhibited by different generations of female
characters who fall within the aforementioned epochs to demonstrate their historical
transmutation towards liberation.
Description
A Research Article in the International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT)
Keywords
Transmutation, Gender, New historicist, Patriarchy, Feminism
Citation
Muneeni, J. M., Makokha, J. K. S., & Mbithi, E. K. (2021). Transmutation and Temporality: Shifting Figures of African Women in Jennifer Makumbi’s Historical Novel Kintu (2014). International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 4(2), 215-222.