Abstract:
This study sought to critically interrogate the representation of masculinity in Euphrase
Kezilahabi’s novels as a way of filling the critical gap in the readings of masculinity in
his novels: Kichwa Maji, Gamba la Nyoka, Dunia Uwanja wa Fujo, Nagona and
Mzingile. The study assumes that various circumstances influence and determine men’s
masculinity and that masculinity is a trait that can be exhibited by both men and women.
It also assumes that Kezilahabi does not affirm the social constructs but rather
interrogates them. The objectives of this study are: to examine the characters’
performance of masculinity, indicators of masculinity and gender role construction. It
also examines Kezilahabi’s interrogation of masculinity in his novels. This is a
qualitative study which uses Robert Connell’s theory of Masculinity, Judith Butler’s
theory of performativity as well as Louis Althusser’s idea of interpellation as a theoretical
framework for textual analysis and interpretation of characters’ expressions and
performances in the novels. It employs a constructivist paradigm, a method that
comprises several stages, including identification of the novels as the primary texts, a
close reading of the novels and a review of literature on the gendered representations in
Kezilahabi’s novels as well as critiquing the representation of masculinity in them.
Kezilahabi’s novels reveal that masculinity is a circumstantial, mutable and contestable
subject. It is constructed within a specific socio-cultural and historical moments and
changes according to circumstances. The novels demonstrate the agency of women in
constructing men’s masculinity. They indicate that masculinity and femininity are not
separable entities in the building of a new, peaceful and strong nation. Furthermore,
Kezilahabi’s novels reveal that power is the key attribute in (de)constructing and
(re)defining men’s masculinity and state institutions like armed forces, schools and
religious centres determine the hierarchies and structures of masculinity. Through his
novels, Kezilahabi challenges and changes stereotypes of men, dismantles the
conventional gender roles and suggests a new way of imagining gender where hegemonic
ideologies can be neutralized. The novels highlight the necessity of female-male gender
complementarity in a contemporary world.
