MVELO

FEMALE BODY-VOICE IN THE NOVEL SEM GENTILEZA (2016), BY FUTHI NTSHINGILA

Abstract

It is often a complex task to carry out a literary analysis while paying attention to the literary trends of a given historical period or country. However, this complexity is amplified when we have a theme that is constantly being circumscribed within Literary Studies, such as Women's Literature. Without disregarding the variety of styles, conceptually, about this strand and its multiple specificities in terms of discourse, it is a consensus that Women's Literature would focus on works permeated by the 'experience of women' and how their identity shapes their view of the world. We intend to reflect on the representation of the female body-voice of the character Mvelo in the novel Sem Gentileza (2016) by Futhi Ntshingila, as well as to conjecture about the writing of female authorship in South Africa under the aegis of post-colonial studies. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, bibliographical study with a descriptive analytical approach, with a phenomenological bias, of aspects that we consider pertinent, such as the place of black women in society, social vulnerability, invisibility, and violence against women during and after the Apartheid regime. As a theoretical foundation, this work will revisit theorists such as Xavier (2021), Pereira (2012), Mbembe (2016), Hill-Collins (2020, 2022), Hooks (1995, 2020), among others. Based on the section investigated, it is possible to predict some trends, including one characterized by the presence of the female body-voice and another centered on a social issue, in which women weave their own stories based on their memories.