writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

WE WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOU ARE A WOMAN: REMINISCENCE OF
WOMANHOOD IN RAHAMA ABDULMAJID’S MACE MUTUM (THE
WOMAN TOO IS HUMAN
Asabe KABIR USMAN *
Introduction:
Hausa Literature like other forms of African literature has to be understood as a literature by men.
The women writers are the other voices, the unheard voices, rarely discussed and hardly recognized
in the literary circle. Hausa women's writing arose out of the desire to introduce a female angle to
discourse on women. When Hausa women started writing in the Hausa Language in the 1980’s they
addressed themes like, the issues of forced marriage, polygamy, childbearing, motherhood, other
domestic issues etc. some of such issues which continue to bedevil Hausa women even in
contemporary era are, submission to the tradition, the culture and the dominant religion which
established and respected by not only the writers of fictional works but also by the society.
Abdulmajid uses her true life novel to give an insight into a life of exploitation, abuse, mistreatment
and unease of women who find themselves at a crossroad of change; therefore Mace Mutum is our
main source of data.
Theoretical framework
Abdulmajid’s “reminiscence of womanhood in Mace Mutum in this paper is viewed using the
“new historicist approach” to literary studies which believes that the characters, events and language
in a piece of literary work must be tied, examined and interpreted in the context of the events and
period in which it is written or produced. 1> Similarly, from another angle, Mace Mutum, 2> is viewed
through the lens of African feminism, the womanist theory which is grounded in African culture and
seeks to empower women in such a way that they can break away from the traditional designation of
womanhood 3 >
. Mace Mutum
4>
is used as data on the premise that both these theories will exemplify
and hypothesize women’s efforts towards self‐identity, selfhood, self‐definition, emancipation,
transformation and growth from the ideology that men form the genesis of women’s problems in
African and by extension Hausa society.
Methodology
After reading the novel in the Hausa language, it was translated into English language using the
literal translations. The literal translation usually retains most of the features of the original text and
at the same time, accepts the “use of words in their usual sense or commonly accepted meaning” 5> ;
this way, the translator retains most of the original words while at the same time make sense to the
reader. All references will be to Mace Mutum.
Synopsis of the novel Mace Mutum
Abdulmajid uses sporadic episodes with flashbacks of happenings which address different issues
different issues on womanhood in her community. She reveals through Fatima the heroine and her
daughter Amina everything she sees as stumbling block to women; from forced marriage,
subjugation, maternal mortality, polygamy health hazards, diseases, poverty, inheritance etc as they
affect women in rural and traditional Hausa society in a village in Niger republic. She demonstrates
how the culture and tradition of the community turns women into things rather than human beings.
She depicts a set up where western education and civilization is frowned at. In fact the scenario
painted is that of a community bedeviled with ignorance, illiteracy and poverty. Fatima’s father gave
out his fourteen year old daughter Lami in marriage to a visiting Islamic scholar from neighboring
*
Department of Modern European Languages and Linguistics, Usmanu Danfodiyo University,
692