Reconstructing Kenyan women's image in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye's Coming to Birth
Date
2009-02-19T11:49:58Z
Authors
Barasa, Violet Nasambu
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study examines how Macgoye, in her novel Coming to Birth, articulates the place of
women characters in the Kenyan society from colonial to postcolonial periods. It
investigates how Macgoye explores Kenya’s postcolonial socio-political dynamics and
their influences in the construction of individual women’s identities. The study relies on
feminist articulations to help us capture the contestation between patriarchal dominance
and women agency as presented in Coming to Birth. I argue that, through the utilisation
of political changes and events, Macgoye demonstrates the capacity of African women
and Kenyan women in particular to break from the fetters of social-cultural structures to
achieve self-realisation as free agents.
The study begins with a review of Macgoye’s writings and a general literature survey on
feminist debates that are relevant in articulating women’s experiences in Africa and
Kenya in particular. By focusing on the theme of politics, the research proceeds to
demonstrate how socio-political changes influence the formation of identities and choices
of individuals in the society as exemplified by the protagonist, Paulina. Given the
centrality of women’s agency in Coming to Birth, the work proceeds to explore strategies
that women employ for their individual emancipation within a society dominated by
patriarchal dictates. I do this by focusing on marriage and motherhood and how women
interrogate the construction of these institutions. The work then explores other key
elements pertinent to women emancipation used in Coming to Birth, namely, Christianity,
education, rural/urban dynamics and traditional practices. Finally, friendship is discussed
as a site that enables women to transcend social structures imposed on them by society.