Retrieving Women's History
Mar. 14th, 2010 09:45 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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50books_pocI initially wasn't going to count uni reading for this, but since I haven't had time to read fiction for what feels like months, I'm giving that up :). Also, I thought these articles might be of interest to a few here.
21. Retrieving Women's History: Changing Perceptions of the Role of Women in Politics and Society, ed. S. Jay Kleinberg.
There are several articles by women of colour in this anthology, but the two I read were:
The Presentation of African Women in Historical Writing by Ayesha Mei-Tje Imam
Imam reviews historical writing on African women, discussing areas which have been studied, areas which haven't, and approaches taken towards African women in historical writing. I found the last bit most interesting. She outlines the four ways African women have generally been presented by historians: as oppressed and subordinate to men; as equal but different to men; as oppressed victims of colonial policy; and, most recently, as actors in social processes who have experienced a general decline in status due to colonialism.
She also outlines problems with the above four approaches, before linking the decline in status women suffered as a result of colonialism to both Christianity and capitalism. Christianity (and 'education') led to girls being raised as future wives and mothers, rather than future citizens. Capitalism, and changes in local economies, led to women losing economic power.
Breaking the silence and broadening the frontiers of history: recent studies on African women by Zenebeworke Tadesse
Tadesse gives a brief historiography of African women, before, as the title suggests, reviewing recent historical studies of African women. She explores the heroine/victim dichotomy she says has dominated the study of African women, arguing that they are either presented as eternal victims and passive objects, or as heroines of women's uprisings and as powerful matriarchs (as an example, she brings up the Igbo women's war). She then summarises various studies on subjects such as women and slavery (both women as slaves and as slave-owners), women in the colonial period, women and resistance, and urban women.
Overall, both articles are very interesting and informative for anyone looking for a quick guide to historical writing on African women.
Tags: a:imam ayesha mei-tje a:tadesse zenebeworke w-ed:kleinberg s jay
21. Retrieving Women's History: Changing Perceptions of the Role of Women in Politics and Society, ed. S. Jay Kleinberg.
There are several articles by women of colour in this anthology, but the two I read were:
The Presentation of African Women in Historical Writing by Ayesha Mei-Tje Imam
Imam reviews historical writing on African women, discussing areas which have been studied, areas which haven't, and approaches taken towards African women in historical writing. I found the last bit most interesting. She outlines the four ways African women have generally been presented by historians: as oppressed and subordinate to men; as equal but different to men; as oppressed victims of colonial policy; and, most recently, as actors in social processes who have experienced a general decline in status due to colonialism.
She also outlines problems with the above four approaches, before linking the decline in status women suffered as a result of colonialism to both Christianity and capitalism. Christianity (and 'education') led to girls being raised as future wives and mothers, rather than future citizens. Capitalism, and changes in local economies, led to women losing economic power.
Breaking the silence and broadening the frontiers of history: recent studies on African women by Zenebeworke Tadesse
Tadesse gives a brief historiography of African women, before, as the title suggests, reviewing recent historical studies of African women. She explores the heroine/victim dichotomy she says has dominated the study of African women, arguing that they are either presented as eternal victims and passive objects, or as heroines of women's uprisings and as powerful matriarchs (as an example, she brings up the Igbo women's war). She then summarises various studies on subjects such as women and slavery (both women as slaves and as slave-owners), women in the colonial period, women and resistance, and urban women.
Overall, both articles are very interesting and informative for anyone looking for a quick guide to historical writing on African women.
Tags: a:imam ayesha mei-tje a:tadesse zenebeworke w-ed:kleinberg s jay
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Date: 2010-07-19 04:34 pm (UTC)It's strange the way European men responded to Dahomean women. Most of the first hand historical accounts of the Kingdom are full of the authors denouncing the awful treatment of the native women, saying they're treated as little more than slaves and beasts of burden........before talking about how the majority of the priest-hood was female, the famous Amazons, the 'mother' of each offical in the royal court effectively outranking the offical through her direct line of communication with the King, the emphasis on women (by men and women) as the driving force of the economy, the lesbian marriages, the relatively simple divorce process- I honestly don't understand how these travellers, seeing women with more social, economic and spiritual freedom than their own wives, mothers and daughters could call them oppressed.
I'm inclined to agree with Imam, but extend the religious aspect to include Islam as well and the general lack of respect for many traditional religions. From what I've read I'd say Tadesse may be right about a heroine/victim......theme in historical analysis but I think that applies to European women historically as well as African women. When I think of European women in history I think of Elizabeth the First and Joan of Arc so is it really surprising that when I think of African ones the Candaces, the Ashanti Queen Mothers and the Dahomey Amazons are the images that spring to mind? I think that dichotomy says more about how we currently think about history and what stories we enjoy telling then about women in general and African women in particular.
Out of interest what are/were you studying?