Dr. Isabella Villanova
Temporal Intersections and Affective Tonalities: The Contemporary African Bildungsroman
Abstract
My presentation focuses on my project, titled “Temporal Intersections and Affective Tonalities: The Contemporary African Bildungsroman”, which investigates how the African Bildungsroman serves as a critical site to engage in broader conversations about affect, temporality, and intersectionality.
In the presentation, I first introduce the project’s research objectives and hypotheses. Second, I examine the Bildungsroman as an inherently temporal literary genre and focus on the themes of growth and change in African urban contexts, drawing on studies of the African and postcolonial Bildungsromane (Amoko 2010; Okuyade 2009; Slaughter 2007). Third, I analyse the trilogy of novels (1988–2018) by Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga as a case study. I use the intersectionality perspective (Crenshaw 1989, 1990) and Achille Mbembe’s concept of temporality (2001) to explore how different axes of identity and power (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, and class) intertwine with various temporalities and create complex affective-temporal landscapes. I draw from Sara Ahmed’s approach to affect theory and happiness paradigm (2004, 2010) to discuss the cultural and political implications of emotions experienced by Zimbabwean women. Thus, I argue how these emotions shape their subjectivities and disclose their refusal to accept passivity and helplessness, showing their willingness to react against the forms of oppression they often face and the circumstances in which they are forced to live. I ultimately show how Dangarembga uses fiction to advocate for women’s human rights in Zimbabwe and beyond.