- Title
- The representation of female consumerism in three African novels
- Creator
- Njokweni, Manzendonga
- Subject
- Port Elizabeth (South Africa)
- Subject
- Eastern Cape (South Africa)
- Subject
- South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2020-12
- Date
- 2020-12
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55096
- Identifier
- vital:49114
- Description
- The portrayal of women and consumer culture is a pertinent issue in African literature. This dissertation examines female characters in three South African novels namely Hunger Eats a Man (2015) by Nkosinathi Sithole, Men of the South (2010) by Zukiswa Wanner and Black Diamond (2009) by Zakes Mda and exposes the effects of feminized consumerism. The theoretical framework for the study is taken from Carolyn Elizabeth Miller’s (2006) theory of consumerism and sexist oppression and is used to expose the oppressive effects of consumerism that nevertheless construct feminine identity in a capitalist world. To augment Miller’s theory, the work of other theorists are consulted to establish a theoretical framework for analysing feminized consumerism. The first chapter shows the effects of feminized consumerism as oppressive to wealthy women and poor women alike. The second chapter shows that female characters are domesticated by consumerism; domestication referring to the phenomenon of prohibiting women from male spaces or subordinating women within those spaces. The third chapter shows that some of the female characters are engaged in commodity fetishism and that they are affected in adverse ways because of this. The fourth chapter explains how female characters are portrayed as inferior to their male counterparts as a result of femininized consumerism in storytelling. In addition to concluding the oppressive effects of feminized consumerism, the fourth chapter analyses comments about capitalism that the authors make; authors like Wanner and Sithole seem to severely critique capitalism and its effects while Mda seems to verily defend capitalism.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Language, Media and Communication, 2020
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (81 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Njokweni, M.pdf | 796 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |