The representation of Masculinity in Euphrase Kezilahabi’s novels

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.