Nervous Conditions

Always enjoy reading about the culture and life of foreign lands, this story is no different.  In this autobiographical tale, Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga, the author tells the tale of her upbringing from a very poor African tribe in Zimbabwe.  As she states at the end of the story, growing up “was a long and painful process.  That process of expansion.. it was one whose events stretched over many years and would fill many volumes… the story of four women, whom she loved, and our men...”   The role of women in the African culture, like many in the world, is second to men.  Tsitsi’s story is no different.  It begins early in her life (13 years old) with the death of her older brother (Nhamo), whom she has come to despise based on his departure from the family to earn an education provided by her educated uncle, Babamukuru, who serves as a headmaster of the regional boarding school.  Babamukuru is the youngest of his family and the only one with an education and the means to support others in the family.  After her brother’s death, Tsitsi is selected for an education.  The story captures the struggles of being an African women in a white world always “not being worthy” of deserving the education.  She also struggles with her family’s lack of wealth and the anger her mother has for Tsitsi for leaving the farm and the rest of the family.  Tsitsi finds a friend in her cousin, Nyasha, who is educated in England, and returns to the boarding school with her cousin.  Eventually Tsitsi’s hard work earns her a chance to continue her education at the all-white Convent in England.  The separation from Nyasha and the rest of her uncle’s family leads Nyasha to destructive behavior brought upon by her unbearable uncle’s demands for excellence.  Themes of women’s strife and pressure by male dominated society persist throughout the story.  It is through Tsitsi’s “coming of age” that finally allows Nyasha the ability to receive the medical help she needs.  I have glossed over much of the depth of the women’s struggles that are contained in the book.  Two families, two worlds that keep colliding is one reoccurring theme throughout, as is the change of society’s acceptable behavior during the tumultuous 1970s.  A good perspective on the African culture.  A solid read for those interested in women’s movement and also difference in cultures.  A helpful book to build upon knowledge of community.