SHADOWS, MASKS AND POSTCOLONIAL IDENTITIES IN KENJO JUMBAM’S THE WHITEMAN OF GOD AND TSITSI DANGAREMBGA’S NERVOUS CONDITIONS

Abstract

The intersection between the concepts of shadows and masks often exemplify the complexities of postcolonial identities which lack a firm sense of self because characters can no longer develop and maintain a strong, fixed and integrated sense of personal identity.  The shadow in this paper represents what is hidden, suppressed, marginalised or cast aside by the colonial narrative. It also symbolises the lost part of a colonised's identity as characters move toward Westernization, their traditional self becomes a shadow which is always present but difficult to manifest. With the position of the shadow, which is clearly identified as the problem, the objective of this paper is to use the notion of masks in Kenjo Jumbam’s The White Man of God and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, to disguise and accept other forms of identity that was placed on the postcolonial subject.  The mask often represents mimicry which is the effort of the colonised to adopt the language, manners, and values of the coloniser to escape the backwardness associated with their own culture. The paper grounds on the hypothesis that, in the situation of postcolonial identity crisis, the different personalities that individuals wear behind the mask serve as an antidote to shadowed identities when individuals are caught between their indigenous heritage and the imposed culture of the coloniser. Analysis from this paper draws interpretations from the postcolonial theory, particularly, from the works of Franz Fanon and Homi Bhabha.