Violence and the Performance of Masculinity in Dudu Busani Dube’s Hlomu the Wife and Sue Nyathi’s The Gold Diggers

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to explore the critique of male chauvinism in two important recent novels authored by South African women, Hlomu the Wife by Dudu Busani-Dube and The Gold Diggers by Sue Nyathi. Using a qualitative analysis of the two novels, the study demonstrated how intimate spaces operate as potential sites of violence. The study also highlighted how the novels grapple with the symbiotic relationship between physical and/or psychological violence and the transformation of masculinities in intimate relationships. The representation of men by these women authors dramatises the extent to which intimate partner violence might be linked with the disjuncture between patriarchal cultural expectations and men’s lived experiences. This is especially so regarding the public and private performances of masculinity in ways that tend to glorify violent behaviours. Drawing on Pumla Gqola’s exploration of intimate spaces as incubators of fear as well as Robert Morrell’s notion of the ‘new man,’ the article offers valuable insights into some of the psycho-social characteristics of South Africa’s endemic crisis of violence against women.

Keywords

• masculinity
• patriarchy
• gender violence
• dudu busani-dube
• sue nyathi