Raising women so as to make great their fall? An analysis of the treatment of inheritance in Ifa Lenkululeko

abstract

Creative writers as agents of change are expected to play a role in raising social awareness on contemporary issues such as the importance of fairness when dealing with inheritance matters where women are concerned. This article analyses the novel Ifa Lenkululeko by Alpha Shange to bring to the fore the issue of empowering women and their fair treatment when it comes to the inheritance of departed husbands’ estates by their widows. The role of the legal system and African culture is explored to expose the pros and cons of the two respective systems in recognising women’s rights under the Constitution. This article argues that events in the novel depict a stubborn patriarchal system in South Africa where women’s unequal status is brought into question. The deferral to patriarchal custom in matters of inheritance is the central theme explored. It is evident through the novel’s treatment of African custom that the achievement of equal rights by women will involve not only standing up to discrimination in the courts, but women gaining knowledge of the law as it affects them, and that knowing their rights is necessary to exercise them as part of their empowerment as citizens, particularly in the sphere of personal and family relationships. The novel’s concern with the question of women’s right to inheritance serves to raise the meaning of gender equality in African communities.

Keywords:

• inheritance
• women empowerment
• literature
• African culture
• customary law

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Liketso Dube

LIKETSO DUBE is a lecturer at Great Zimbabwe University. He teaches IsiNdebele courses in the Curriculum Studies Department under the Faculty of Education. His research interests are in language policy, indigenous languages promotion, language rights, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Onomastics and IsiNdebele/IsiZulu literature and culture. He holds a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum and Arts, a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in African Languages and Culture and a Diploma in Education.