Graduation Year
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
English
Major Professor
Hunt Hawkins, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Sheila M. Diecidue, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Phillip Sipiora, Ph.D.
Keywords
ecocriticism, utopianism, patriarchy, gardens, solidarity, postcolonial
Abstract
This thesis examines the presence of unhu, a process of becoming and remaining human through community ties, in Tsitsi Dangarembga‟s Nervous Conditions and The Book of Not. Dangarembga interrogates corrupt versions of community by creating positive examples of unhu that alternatively foster community building. Utilizing ecocritical, utopian, and postcolonial methodologies, this thesis postulates that these novels stress the importance of retaining a traditional concept like unhu while also acknowledging the need to adjust it over time to ensure its vitality. Both novels depict the creativity and resilience of unhu amid toxic surroundings.
Scholar Commons Citation
Rine, Dana, "Small Flowerings of Unhu: the Survival of Community in Tsitsi Dangarembga's Novels" (2011). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/3312
Included in
African Languages and Societies Commons, American Studies Commons, Comparative Literature Commons
