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TITLE:
UNIVEHSITY OF NAIROBI
DEPAHTi,lI~NT OF LITZR.rl'U;·;;E
\ .
. '\iOUeN IN CLASS SOCIETIES: AN ANALYSIS OF
SEl-IBE.'{8 OUSl>UNB 1S FICTION t •
THIS THE.SIS FI~S U~EN ACC~prrED F~~
- ..', -F '~',~ , .lg2 .
'l'nF. nF.O P.l ,', () •••••••••.. ....• r •
At\D A {,Ol'\:' \IAY BE i)L~CEDIN THE
U~lvbOltSl'ry .IAIUHARY.
SUBl>lITTED BY
JANE AKELO \1JERE
In Partial Fulfilment of Requirement for Degree or
Master of Arts (M.A.) in the University or Nairobi •
)lARCH t 1982.

ABSTRACT
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The title of this thesis is '\lomen in Class Societ\~~:
An Analysis of Sembene Ousmane's Fiction'. In this
research, Cusmane's two novels, Godes bits of Wood nnd
Xala and two of his short stories collections, Tl'ibal
Sc1ll:.2 and The Honey Order with lill! te Genesis are
analysed.
This thesis is oi vided into five chapters. 7J; e-
Introduction and the first three chapters each analyses
a specific aspect of the exploitation and oppression of
women in feudal and capitalist societ~ while chapter four
analyses the women's resistance against their
exploitation and opprossiono
~ The "Introduction" is a brief analysiG of the
treatment of women in African Literature in general)
while highlighting Sembene Cusmano's distinctly
positive treatment of women in African Literature.
Chapter one analyseR ousmane's fiction and reveals
the economic basis of the exploitation nnd oppression of
wo~en in class society. Refuting the popular argument
that the exploitation and oppression. or women is natur-a L,

the chapter demonstrates that all forms of exploitation
and oppression which women are subjected to in class
society make them workers and commodities whose labour
is misappropriated at various levelso
Chapter two is on Socialisation" and s hows how this
process is used to condition the majority of women into
accepting their exploitation and oppression as the
linatural order". This chapter analyses Ousmanc!s exposition
of feudal and b our-geoLs socialisation as an indoctrination
process through vh Lch most womon are b r-ai nwa.she d Ln t o being
passive servants and underdogs.
Chapter three is on the Marriage Institutien)which
is Sanctioned by Religion as an instrument in the exploit&tion
and oppression of women. Tbiti chapter exposes the crude
and subtle enslavement of wi ve s in feudal and bourgeois
marriages.
Chapter fou~ shows Ousmane's awareness of the
historical fact that women have never been happy, grinning
slaves., This last chapter analyses the women's awareness
of, their ~rotests Dnd collective resistance against
their exploitation and oppression.

(viii)
In the Conclusion, this thesis asslts that
class society is the cause of the exploitation and
oppression of women. Consequently, therefore, the
liberation of women can and will only be realised
with the destruction of the entire exploitative and
oppressive class society. if l'vL~?