Nervous+Conditions

=Addressing the Cultural Context, Female Perspective, and the Privileged Education in //Nervous Conditions// by Tsitsi Dangarembga=

Synopsis from the publisher: "Immediately hailed as a classic (Atlantic Monthly called it "the best contemporary novel on colonialism to be written by an African woman"), //Nervous Conditions// is a wrenching chronicle of the coming of age of Tambu, a teenage girl in 1960s Rhodesia, and her relationship with her British-educated cousin, Nyasha. Tambu, who yearns to be free of the constraints of her rural village, thinks her dreams have come true when her wealthy uncle offers to sponsor her education. But education at his mission school comes with a price. There she meets sophisticated Nyasha, whose rebellion against her father brings disaster. With irony and skill, Dangarembga explores the struggle of two young women to liberate themselves in a society still suffering the effects of colonization [Alice Walker comments that] this edition of this highly acclaimed novel is "an expression of liberation not to be missed" ([|www.barnesandnoble.com])

Like many novels dubbed "multicultural", //Nervous Conditions// is filled with great teaching opportunity and, at the same time, many a challenge. At the surface level, readers will find a sometimes moving and sometimes devastating [|buildungsroman] about a young Rhodesian girl named Tambu. With a closer look, readers encounter a myriad of cultural and societal issues: the family dynamic, the role of women, the role of the men, the traditional vs. the modern and the European vs. the African, poverty, race relations, the role of religion, the educational system, and language. It would be impossible, under normal classroom settings, to thoroughly cover all of these topics. For the sake of this article, I discuss the challenging tasks of teaching the context, the female perspective, and the role of education in Tambu's world.

Challenge: Connecting Students Through the African Context-- P.S. //Where is Rhodesia?//
Many of our students have a preconceived notion of Africa (often consistent with media portrayal): it's where slaves came from, there are starving children, a huge AIDS epidemic, much poverty, uncivilized tribes, thrilling safaris, high temperatures, etc. Because of the recent movies //Hotel Rwanda// and //The Last King of Scotland// and the Darfur conflict, students may know about some of the violence facing Africans. Beyond that, they probably don’t recognize the true history and immense struggles the peoples of this continent faced and currently confront, nor do most understand just how large and diverse Africa actually is.

Taking on Africa as a whole is a daunting task. For the sake of teaching this text, maybe a quick geographical overview of the continent, and then a stronger focus on the specific setting may work best. The first aspect to discuss certainly is the fact that the setting of the book, Rhodesia, is now the country of Zimbabwe. Other African countries’ names have also changed in the post-colonial era, and students should be aware not of all the name changes, but more importantly of the history behind the colonization of Africa primarily by the French, English, and Portuguese.

Setting the context will take time, but it is time well spent as students will emerge from better equipped to connect with the book.

= =
 * **Talk**: Although I don’t run my classroom in a lecture-based manner, I do think in this case it is up to the instructor to share some vital statistics and information about Africa, and more specifically Zimbabwe, with their students. Start by asking students what they know about Africa as a whole; students’ answers will probably stem from the media portrayal. From there, start slowly adding to their fact base. See the [|CIA Fact Book] website and additional resources below for some help with this.
 * **Show Them**: Most of our students haven’t been to Africa, so to ask them to visualize Tambu, her family, and their village is nearly impossible. An important asset then is bringing in multi-media images to help our students see the cultures. Seek out [|media resources] (scroll down) and [|photo essays.] From there, have students reflect on what they saw and hold a classroom discussion. Then, when they begin reading //Nervous Conditions// they may be able to “see” the character’s situation better.
 * **Supplement**: Imperative to the study of these cultures is the [|supplement] of short stories, poems, and nonfiction works to create a wider perspective. Help students become conscious of the similar themes and compare/contrast the experience of other characters/people to that of Tambu.
 * **Connect With an African Classroom**: With the web, it’s now easier than ever for teachers and students to link with classrooms all over the world. Students may be interested in [|starting a pen pal exchange program] or teachers may want to [|communicate with other teachers] in Zimbabwe. Make sure this is a safe experience for students and they may build a lifelong friendship!

Challenge Two: This is Not Just a Story for Girls--Linking the Boys to the Text
Although the narrator is a young girl and most of the major characters are women, this is not a book solely for females. It will be a challenge to urge the young men in class to see this. The feminist aspect is definitely present and worthy of discussion, but before students can truly understand the importance of the female role in the book, they must understand both gender roles in the culture. A closer inspection of the family dynamic contrasted with the missionary perspective and gender role, will lead to a meaningful discussion and insight into the position of the male as well. Another way to connect young men to this text is by offering reading options that will allow them to read from a man's perspective. = =

Ideas:
> **Suggested Books**:
 * **Literature Circles**: As mentioned earlier, although Africa consists of fifty-some countries, many of the themes in the literature are universal. With that said, bringing more reading options in can foster interest, open up the perspective and allow students to take ownership. Harvey Daniels’ book **//[|Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom (2002)]//** is an excellent resource to learn more about implementing literature circles.
 * //[|Things Fall Apart]// (and other Chinua Achebe)
 * //Kaffir Boy// by Mark Mathabane
 * //[|Cry, the Beloved Country]// by Alan Paton
 * //[|The Dark Child]// by Carmara Laye
 * //[|Xala]// (post-secondary) (and other Ousmane Sembene)

Challenge: Recognizing Education as a Privilege, Not a Right
So often we take for granted our right to education in this country; time and again students complain about things Tambu desires. //Nervous Conditions// brings to light how coveted an education is for some in Africa and how only the privileged earn the opportunity. In fact, Tambu is only allowed to go to the missionary school by default: her brother dies. In many other cases, as //Nervous Conditions// illustrates, parents cannot afford to send their kids to school. Seek out some information on Zimbabwe's schools and students in //[|Meet Zimbabwe's Young Scholars]// a multimedia website featuring documentaries on several young students. Teachers should pose the idea of education as a privilege and not a right to students: could they do what Tambu did to get an education? How does her experience and mindset compare with the westernized Nyasha’s? It is key to open up this dialogue with students and address the effects of an education in Africa.

Ideas for Discussion:

 * **Who is Doing the Educating?:** What is the effect of having the missionary schools and the nuns acting as educators? From where do these people originate and do their ideals clash at all with those of the natives? Is this in any way problematic?
 * **Risk of Losing her Native Culture:** Have students track in the novel what Tambu and others risk to acquire her education. Look carefully at the idea of leaving home to be educated and for a higher education one must travel to the colonizer’s country. At the end of the novel, discuss students’ observations.
 * **Role of the Uncle:** He leaves to get a Master’s Degree and comes back and is praised like a king by his family. In contrast, his wife, who also has her Master’s is virtually unnoticed academically by the family.
 * **Education Yields Income:** Readers do see that the uncle’s education yields a good job and a healthy income. However, in many societies in Africa, the educated are persuaded by corruption. This does nothing to change the current conditions of the countries.
 * **Nervous Conditions:** Explore the title. How does is link to the idea of education and its effects?

Additional Resources For...
[|"African Authors"] features Dangarembga as well as information on Zimbabwe and a study guide for //Nervous Conditions//
 * __Author Information__**

[|"Lesson Planet"] is a lesson plan search engine. Teachers can view abstracts, but need to subscribe for a fee to view complete plans. The Peace Corps [|lesson plan database] is a great resource.
 * __Lesson Plans__**

[|Worldtrek site] on Zimbabwe--good for contextual information [|"K-12 Electronic Guide for African Resources on the Internet"] from University of Pennsylvania African Studies Program--More multimedia here [|African Studies Center at Boston University Outreach Program] click on "Teaching Resources" (materials for sale) [|"Exploring Africa"] is an introduction to curriculum resources set up with different modules [|"Teaching About Africa"] is a site created by Standford Junior University with a wealth of resources
 * __Other Curriculum Materials__**

[|**"Articles, Papers, & Abstracts"**] from University of Pennsylvania African Studies Program [|"Disembodying The Corpus: Postcolonial Pathology In Tsitsi Dangarembga's 'Nervous Conditions'"] by Deepika Bahri [|"Postcolonial Identity in Dangarembga's //Nervous Conditions//..."] is a short, but interesting article from Brown University
 * __Academic Literature__**

by Nicole Ziegler