Abstract:
Women often receive characterisations of themselves in an idealised and
stereotypical manner in literature, which warrants both contestation and the provision
of remedial strategies against such representations of women in literature.
Underpinned by African Feminism and the qualitative research approach, the study
not only analysed a selection of Tshivenḓa poems, but also purposively analysed
those poems that challenge the portrayal of women in a negative light by presenting
them, arguably, as dignified human beings. Among the negative portrayals of women
were depictions of women as slaves, catastrophic beings, subservient humans,
sexual objects, and idiots, consequently culminating in the perception of women as
marginalised in a variety of spheres. The study might contribute to the ongoing
discourse on women liberation and empowerment.
