Memory Into Narratives: An Analysis of Stories of Xhosa Widows In the Eastern Cape

Abstract

The research has been prompted by the diversity of the Xhosa culture of mourning, which is the cause of the detriments of this rite of passage. My objective is to create ground for the evaluation of widow's experiences, their views about widowhood and the culture of mourning. It is intended as a call to the Xhosa society and intellectuals to listen to the voices of the silenced widows. It intends to serve as a witness that, as long as they are silenced, there is much that is not known about widows and widowhood. It also looks at two widows' experiences as a demonstration of a need to allow widows to narrate their personal experiences with the culture of mourning as a way of liberating them, and to let us, the others, to know who they really are. The research seeks to emphasize the importance of narrative as a tool for representing experience, to create ground for a realistic portrayal of widow characters in works of literature, and to motivate these silenced women to raise their voices against their distortion, therefore their misrepresentation. Hopefully, a debate on the culture of mourning, based on personal narratives by widows, could lead to a way of observing this culture that will be owned and upheld with pride and conviction by Xhosa women.