Daughters Who Know the Languages of Power
Community, Sexuality, and Postcolonial Development in Tess Onwueme's Tell It to Women
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3568463 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kanika Batra (0000-0003-0355-7966, Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi , India, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 124-138 |
| Publication date | 2007-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Interventions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-801X • E-ISSN: 1469-929X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13698010601174245 |
| OpenAlex | W1527575870 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 9 |
This paper discusses how the work of the Nigerian diasporic playwright Tess Onwueme can be placed on the continuum of Nigerian cultural activism marked, on the one hand, by a critique of postcolonial governmentality and, on the other, by active support of the programmes initiated by the state. I examine Onwueme's focus on women's resistance to the developmental programmes imposed by leaders and bureaucrats in Nigeria by reading her play Tell it to Women (1992, 1997) in conjunction with the efforts of Theatre for Development (TfD) practitioners. Onwueme exposes the fraudulent claims of postcolonial Nigerian governance with respect to development; in contrast, TfD practitioners work in close conjunction with the government's development plans. Juxtaposing these differing cultural ideologies, I address the following questions: How is women's sexuality overdetermined by the imposition of developmental programme enlisting the aid of cultural activists? Can theatre and drama be useful in initiating a dialogue on sexualities in Africa? Is it possible for women-centric traditions within local communities to yield a model of postcolonial development that embraces alternative sexualities? The paper attempts to answer these questions by suggesting that despite presenting sexual identity politics as separatist and irrelevant to the communitarian ethos of Nigerian society, Tell it to Women contributes to a long overdue conversation on alternative sexualities in Africa
Autonomy · Conversation · Drama · Ethos · Governmentality · Human sexuality · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Sexual identity · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Law
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,11 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2017 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |