Transforming cultural identity: Textual analysis of Aawambo cultural practices in three post-independence Namibian texts

Abstract

The issue of transforming cultural identity has emerged in the writings of Namibian post independence female authors, particularly in the context of the cultural identity of women. In the name of culture, widows face numerous challenges while they grieve for their departed husbands. Marriage is seen as a means of honouring a woman. She is humiliated, abused, and left without dignity after the spouse passes away. Women are also subjected to biological parenting to gain the status of motherhood and being respected as mothers in society. As a qualitative desktop study, this research purposely selected three books written by Namibian female authors, following independence of the country, to promote the idea of self-narrative, women empowerment and self-determination for women to fight the injustice of the patriarchal system. Approached from a womanist concept, the study employed African womanism, African post-colonial feminism and literary criticism to establish the arguments from a feminist point of view. The study employed a qualitative desktop approach within a womanist paradigm of textual analysis. It was designed to investigate Aawambo cultural practices as depicted in Namibian female autobiographies in terms of self-narrative, biography and prose as literary genres. These theories were used to determine how the authors created a platform to challenge the patriarchal system, enabling the characters – mothers, women and widows to express their own experiences in a more comprehensible manner. In the study, I examined cultural practices as portrayed in the narratives and interpreted specific aspects related to transforming cultural identity. The focus was on Oshiwambo culture, which formed the basis for the general conclusions as derived from the research findings. The research concludes that the selected texts respond to the Namibian postcolonial situation. The main characters depicted in these texts carry the torch of women’s liberation, constituting both a liberating and transformative voice. They portray eagerness and strength in mobilising other women, despite facing numerous challenges in a patriarchal environment.