The concept of Centre and periphery in postcolonial literature. A special
reference to African Literature
BY
NHLANHLA DUBE
This paper discusses how the notion of centre and periphery is discussed in postcolonial
literature. The relationship interactions between the centre and periphery drive postcolonial
literature. It is therefore important to assess what kind of relationship exists between the
centre and the periphery. This paper explores examples from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous
conditions and Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the rain. These texts show the true nature of
the relationship between centre and periphery.
The terms centre and periphery should be described first. The centre in postcolonial
literature can be taken to represent those groups in society who have power and discursive
tools. That is, the centre is in control of society. Those in the centre are able to tell their
stories because they have the power to do so. The result of this is that history is then
recorded from the perspectives of those in the centre. Power for those in the centre usually
derives from the socio –economic and political setup.If for example a man can send his
children to school then they are in the centre and the illiterate children become the
periphery. The literate children will write stories about their daily lives that do not take into
account the stories of the illiterate.
The periphery in postcolonial literature refers to those that are on the margins of society.
Those people or groups that are side lined and oppressed can be described as the periphery.
History, because of the control exerted by those in the centre over it, usually excludes the
stories of those in the periphery. Postcolonial literature thus attempts to identify these
subalterns, who have usually been side lined because of colonialism, and tell their story.
The relationship between the centre and the periphery in any context is problematic. This is
because the very existence of the periphery gives power to the centre. That is, the centre
cannot exist without the periphery. This is so because of the exploitative nature of the
relationship. The exploitation of the periphery keeps the centre at the top of the power
structure . However, because of interdependence, this state of affairs ensures that the
periphery has the potential to subvert the power of those in the centre.
In Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions there is a continuous struggle by women
against patriarchy. Women in the novel are usually not given the same opportunities and
privileges that their male counterparts get. This is mainly because of the context the novel is
set in. The novel is set in a Zimbabwean society that highly values the male members of the
community. Women are therefore side lined and they become the periphery. As a
consequence their male counterparts become the centre. It is thus pertinent to explore how
the notions of centre and periphery are treated in Nervous conditions.
In Nervous conditions, Tambu is denied the opportunity to obtain an education. Although
her family is poverty stricken, enough resources are mustered for her older brother Nhamo
to go to school. It is only when Nhamo dies that she receives the opportunity to go to
school. Nervous conditions demonstrates that Tambu is in the periphery when compared to
her brother Nhamo who is in the centre. Nhamo as a result of his gender is entitled to
privileges that initially elude Tambu. There is therefore an uneven and inherently unfair
relationship between Tambu and Nhamo.
Nyasha, Tambu’s cousin has had better life experiences than Tambu mostly because of her
parents’ education. Nyasha is enlightened because of her stay in the United Kingdom. She is
therefore extremely liberal in her ideas and actions. Nyasha, although she is in a more
privileged position than Tambu, is still in the periphery because she is a girl. Nyasha
however resists the domination she faces from a male dominated system.
Nyasha has the audacity to stand up to her father, Babamkuru, and engage him in physical
fight. This infuriates Babamkuru because it is blasphemy for a daughter to physically fight
her father in the Zimbabwean cultural context. Through this violent physical confrontation,
Nervous conditions shows that it is possible for those in the periphery to challenge those in
the centre.
Even the tame Tambu defiantly objects to attending her parents’ Christian wedding that has
been encouraged by Babamkuru. She does this with total disregard to the advice and
threats that Babamkuru gives. The notion of centre and periphery as explored in Nervous
conditions concentrates on highlighting the position of those in the periphery and telling
their story. That is, the position of women in a male centric community. It also concentrates
on showing that those in the centre can be challenged.
The treatment of the notion of centre and periphery can also be seen in Charles Mungoshi’s
Waiting for the Rain. Postcolonial literature is also about redefining the social discourse that
the coloniser had perpetrated about Africa. Western knowledge was portrayed as an
unshakeable dictum that could not be questioned. The centre in Waiting for the rain is
constituted by those characters who subscribe to western knowledge and tradition and the
periphery is composed of those characters that subscribe to the indigenous culture.
In Waiting for the rain, Lucifer has been offered an opportunity to go and study overseas.
Lucifer is at the centre because prescribes to the Western ways of doing things. Before he
leaves he has to go back home and bid farewell to his family in the communal lands albeit
reluctantly. What follows is a journey through the psyche of different generations and how
they interpret the events that occur in their changing society differently. There is an
ideological battle being fought in Waiting for the rain between western culture and
traditional beliefs.
Waiting for the rain is pregnant with symbolism. The most fascinating of which being the
symbolism of the drum .The drum represents African culture and beliefs. The characters in
the novel that play their own drum are string willed and resolute. Those that do not play
their own drum are being influenced by foreign ideas and Western culture. Garabha plays
the drum and Lucifer sketches art on a notepad. Also the absence of a rainmaker in the
community is of danger .It shows that the society is crumbling because of the intrusion of
western beliefs.
Garabha, Lucifer’s brother has become a wanderer because he flees from the expectations
of his parents. He returns home to see off his brother. Garabha is one of the few characters
who subscribes to the old ways of doing things. He is therefore in the periphery. At the end
of the novel Garabha does not stay but he wanders off again. This act, the departure of
Garabha, shows that the periphery has been defeated. This is because the character that
stands up for the periphery moves away.
The centre, being the western culture, has dominated the African landscape. Waiting for the
rain shows that the centre is a powerful force that is overpowering the periphery. Towards
the end of the novel, Lucifer is offered some traditional medicine to keep evil spirits away by
his father. Lucifer throws this traditional medicine to the floor in protest thereby destroying
it. This rejection illustrates the fact that the centre has prevailed in the battle against the
periphery.
In conclusion, postcolonial literature shows the reader that the notion of centre and
periphery is a battle. Periphery and centre fight for dominance but it appears that the
centre has an upper edge. Garabha and Nyasha are characters in the periphery that fight
those in the centre. These characters however are not ultimately successful. The notion of
centre and periphery in postcolonial literature is therefore portrayed as a battle in which
the periphery is on the losing end.
References
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Dangarembga.T.(1989). Nervous conditions. United Kingdom. The women’s press.
Mungoshi.C.(1975). Waiting for the rain. United Kingdom. Heinemann.
Young, R. (2003). Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. New York. Oxford University
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Gandhi, L.(1998). Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. New York. Columbia University
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Spivak, G.(2003). Death of a Discipline. New York. Columbia University Press.