The Negotiation of Social Identities in Sol Plaatje’s Mhudi : A Case of Envisioning a Reconfiguration of Gendered Roles - Research

This article examines how Plaatje through his textual representations of both the hero Ra-Thaga and the heroine Mhudi critiques and deconstructs from both the social constructivist perspective and the African feminist perspective the patriarchal paradigm in its consignment of women to subordinated social roles. This in essence denies women an affirming social position. Plaatje presents Mhudi as assuming agency by engaging in a transformative journey in which she steps beyond the domestic sphere into the men's world and eventually reconfigures a new form of self-fulfilled woman and equal marriage partner. Plaatje's eponymous heroine is an enduring symbol of the belief in a new day or dispensation. It is also notable that in the novel Mhudi, Plaatje represents the character of the heroine as a rational being striving towards achieving new configurations of women's identity and social engagement. Thus, Mhudi has been shown by many critics (Willan 1984; Hooper 1992; Thompson 1992; Mpe 1998; Chrisman 1997 and 2000) to be ahead of its time in terms of its treatment of women and that there is a progressive portrayal of Batswana womanhood in particular. This portrayal represents not only a new view of Batswana womanhood but also a new norm of equality. The portrayal of Mhudi represents a woman shouldering the responsibility of charting the course of female emancipation (Fonchingong, 2006:45). In Mhudi, Plaatje offers realistic and socially conscious critiques of existing gender relations and roles between men and women. Plaatje advocates the view that patriarchy "is a system fashioned out as a grand design to trample upon women" (Nwagbara, 2009). Plaatje's text, in its representation of the heroine, suggests that there be new configurations of women's identity and practices which will translate in the reconfiguration of womanhood by prioritizing female individualism and empowerment.