Nervous Conditions: A Novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Nervous Conditions is a novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga, a Zimbabwean writer. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1988. It is one of the first books written by a black woman from Zimbabwe to be translated into English. While its storyline is based on real events, it is also a work of fiction.
The Colonial Condition is a Nervous Condition
The colonial condition is a nervous state, says Jean-Paul Sartre in his 1963 introduction to Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. This novel reveals a variety of nervous conditions that are common to colonized societies. One example is sexual colonization. This condition is the result of the social construction of male privilege within African society. Tambudzai's coming-of-age story is set in this context, and it charts her resistance to multiple oppressions.
A Critique of Colonialism and Patriarchal Society
Nervous Conditions begins in the African country of Rhodesia in the early 1960s. It is a coming-of-age novel that also is a critique of colonialism and a protest against patriarchal society. Its most important theme is Tambu, a semi-autobiographical character who recalls her own experiences growing up in Southern Rhodesia in the 1960s. Another important theme of the novel is the alienation of Tambu's cousin Nyasha.
An Important Contribution to Postcolonial Literature
Nervous Conditions is an important contribution to postcolonial literature, as one of the few novels written by black Zimbabweans. It also offers a fascinating glimpse of traditional Shona life.
The Narrator's Struggle with Sexism
Nervous Conditions is a novel set in a colonized African country in the early 1960s. It tells the story of Tambu, a fourteen-year-old girl who is determined to escape her sexist family. Born a girl, she has faced many disadvantages due to her gender. For example, tradition dictates that the oldest male child in the family be the head. She resented her elder brother for this from a young age. As the family's primary breadwinner, he received the majority of the family's resources.
Examining Sexism and Female Empowerment
Nervous Conditions is an important book for examining sexism. It shows the oppression women face in a patriarchal society. While the novel depicts a society where women are still treated as second-class citizens, it also highlights the role of women in society.
Nervous Conditions challenges the notion that women must remain silent and docile. The novel explores female empowerment through first-person narration. Tambu explains that she is narrating from a memory, and that she has suffered a family death when she was young. Despite this tragedy, she refuses to let it affect her education.
The Role of the Body in the Development of Modern Science
The development of science is a social process, and it reflects social values. This is apparent in the history of economic theory, for example. Before the twentieth century, economics considered the minimum wage to be the ideal wage, and women and people of color were largely excluded from scientific fields. Those who overcame such barriers were often ridiculed by their scientific peers.
The scientific revolution altered the relationship between science and nature and changed the value of evidence. This change in perspective was reflected in the philosophical disagreement between Francis Bacon and René Descartes. Bacon advocated the use of inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, which he called the Baconian method. Bacon's demands for a planned procedure defined a new theoretical framework for science.
It is imperative for scientists to communicate their findings in order to prevent duplication of effort and to allow systematic critique. To this end, scientists often present their findings in scientific journals. This allows them to share their work with other scientists and stay abreast of developments around the world. Science is also made possible by the development of information technologies, which make data collection and analysis more efficient and reduce the time between discovery and application.
Dangarembga's Writing Style
Dangarembga's superabundant style is strikingly different from her African forebear's Things Fall Apart. While the latter is a master at writing short sentences, Dangarembga is a master of super-length sentences.
Her Nervous Conditions focuses on a small group of women who navigate a world unkind to them. The story is about their attempts to survive in a society that is unflinchingly hostile to their ambitions. Her writing style invites the reader to consider the social dogmata of African women.
The book is set in Southern Rhodesia in the 1960s. While the story traces the lives of a young girl named Tambu, it is also a protest against patriarchal society. Dangarembga's most important theme is Tambu, a semi-autobiographical character who reflects her own experience growing up in Southern Rhodesia during the 1960s. The alienation of Tambu's cousin Nyasha is another important theme.
Nervous Conditions is a novel set in the early 1960s. The protagonist is a young black woman named Tambu, who is looking back on her childhood. She is not sorry for her elder brother's death, which occurred in 1968. He was attending a Protestant Christian mission school run by his English-educated uncle, Babamukuru.
