Article Citation: Asabe Kabir Usman (2018). Revisiting the Female Question in Hausa Women's Writings: Examples from the Fictional Work of Balkisu Salisu Ahmad. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 16. ISSN 0794-9316

REVISITING THE FEMALE QUESTION IN HAUSA WOMEN’S WRITINGS: EXAMPLES FROM THE FICTIONAL WORK OF BALKISU SALISU AHMAD

By

Prof. (Mrs). Asabe Kabir Usman

Department of Modern European Languages & Linguistics

Usmanu Ɗanfodiyo University, Sokoto

asabekabir@yahoo.com

Abstract

Hausa popular prose fiction, is a distinct indigenous romantic genre in Hausa language which in recent times has defied all criticisms and has remained a form of entertainment for the public in northern Nigeria. Hausa Literature like other forms of African literature until recently has been dominated by men; written in the Hausa language, Hausa popular prose fiction has for over two decades contributed to the growing body of indigenous African literatures. The women writers who now form the majority are the unheard voices, rarely discussed and hardly recognized in the literary circle. Their writings arose out of their yearning to contribute their views/thoughts to discourse on women. We shall therefore, through a synopsis of, and analysis of Sa’adatu Sa’ar Mata by Balkisu Salisu Ahmad, view how she has used her literary work to revisit the female question by projecting female characters that break away from the dogma of culture, tradition, and suppressed potentials in a male dominated society. Using a textual analysis and the womanist literary theory, we argue that, Ahmad has through her writings revisited the portrayal of the female character in contemporary popular African narrative in a positive light to establish a new angle to female discourse.

Introduction

The woman writer has two responsibilities: first to tell about being a woman; secondly, to describe reality from a woman's view, a woman's perspective. (Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie, 1994)

Hausa popular prose fiction, a distinctive indigenous form of writing in the Hausa language which has remained a form of entertainment for the public in northern Nigeria over the years. like other forms of literary genres, has before now been dominated by men; written in the Hausa language, Hausa popular prose fiction has for almost three decades contributed to the growing body of indigenous African literatures. “The women writers of Africa are the other voices, the unheard voices rarely discussed and seldom accorded space in the repetitive anthologies and the predictably male-oriented studies in this field” (Brown 1981, p. 3).

Frank (1984, p. 39) once remarked that before women ventured into the art of creative writing:

Most African novels have been written by men, and they tend to focus on social, historical, and political issues, rather than personal or domestic themes…. female relations to men define them in these novels as someone’s daughter, wife or mother.

This assertion is also true of creative writings in Hausa society because, the emergence of popular Hausa Fictional writings was heralded by the emergence of titles mainly by male authors like:  Kogin Soyayya 1988), by Ahmed Mahmood Zahraddeen Yakasai; Garin Masoyi (1989), by Ahmed Mahmood Zahraddeen Yakasai; Wataran Sai Labari (1990) by Ahmed Mahmood Zahraddeen Yakasai; Amintacciyar Soyayya (1991), by Dan'azumi Baba Chediyar 'Yan Gurasa; Da Ko Jika? (1992) by Bala Anas Babinlata; Kyan Alkawari (1992) by Dan'azumi Baba Chediyar 'Yan Gurasa; Idan Ungulu Ta Biya Bukata (1993) by Dan Azumi Baba; Allah Ya Hada Kowa Da Rabonsa (1993), by Dan'azumi Baba Chediyar 'Yan Gurasa; Son Maso Wani (No date) by Balarabe Abdullahi Sani Yakasai; Rai Dai (No date), by Balarabe Abdullahi Sani Yakasai.  Ilmi Ribar Rayuwa (1996), by Zayyanu Muhammad Kaura; Kaico! (1996) by Ado Ahmad etc which flooded the market and the visibility of female writers was minimal. Not only were these authors at home in their cultural and traditional setting, their works provoked immediate aesthetic response because they effectively addressed issues that matter in the society. But despite the popularity enjoyed by these male writers, the invisibility of very strong and effective female writers, characters and presence was apparent in their works and there was an unbalanced picture of Hausa women and the important roles that women have played and continue to play in Hausa society. Women characters were cast in marginal roles and portrayed variously as weakling, as mere objects of sexual gratification, procreation and idle gossips.

Thus, by the late 1980s when works by African female authors began to increase and to generate a great deal of critical interest, Hausa women writers also joined the race. As a result from the late 1990’s, female Hausa literary writers broke their silence to take over the literary arena. They seem to be obeying  Adebayo (1996, pp1-10) who keeps encouraging African female writers to start writing and portraying female characters as having a destiny of their own and to explore themes that embrace the solution of a theoretical world without men. They have therefore taken up the challenge to “return to their historic position of power as the creators and carriers of classical literature of African descent"(Oculli 1976, p. 23). Today women writers like Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, Balkisu Salisu Ahmad, Saliha Abubakar Zaria, Sa’adatu Saminu Turaki, Habiba Imam Ikara, Fauziya D. Sulaiman, Aziza Idris Gombe and many others have forcefully anchored into the African literary scene and their writings are today subject to various researches, critical discourse and academic studies.

Wildly recognized as a leading female voice in contemporary Hausa prose fiction, Balkisu Salisu Ahmad has attracted national attention for her compelling depiction of the female experience in Hausa society. One can categorically say that she is the leading icon of the Hausa literary writers due to the many books she has written and her unique style in writing. Balkisu has a total of 21 books published between the years 1994 when she published her first book “Allura Cikin Ruwa” to 2010 when she wrote her last book, Sakacin na Waye. Most of her books have love, family life, matrimonial upheaval, emancipation of the female child, female identity, girl-child education etc as themes. Most importantly, her writings dwell so much on the theme of womanhood which among other things portray the experiences of women in a phallocentric, patriarchal and male-dominated society, the challenges they face and how they struggle to overcome such challenges without trampling on the tradition, culture or religion. In fact, almost all her novels see women characters as very resourceful, successful and have unique ways of solving challenges that may affect them directly or indirectly without necessarily undermining themselves.

We shall therefore, through a synopsis of Sa’adatu Sa’ar Mata (Sa’adatu the Shining Star) (1997), by Balkisu Salisu Ahmad Funtua view how she has used her literary work to break away from the dogma of culture, tradition, and suppressed potentials in a male dominated society. We argue that, she has through her writing revisited the portrayal of the female character in contemporary popular African narrative in a positive light away from what Chukwuma (1989, p 2) once described “the facile lack-lustre human being, the quiet member of a household, content only to bear children, unfulfilled if she does not, and handicapped if she bears only daughters”.

Approach

This paper explores Sa’adatu Sa’ar Mata (Sa’adatu the Shining Star) through a textual analysis. A textual analysis is an appropriate methodology for this paper because rather than looking at the frequency of audience reception, it is instead interested in the themes and underlying messages of the content. It is important to understand that what is of interest is not the text itself, but what the text signifies (Curtin, 1995). This is accomplished through the identification of the most salient themes, and then linking those themes together (Bernard, 2000). A womanist reading, which is a strand of feminist theory of the selected texts, is also used to complement the textual analysis. Walker’s (1983, p.10) term “womanist” is the referent for what is attempted in this study. Womanist theory is by definition committed to the survival and the wholeness of all people, females and males, as well as to the braveness of women’s works in all their varieties. To Ogunyemi (1988), womanism serves as the rallying-point of the women of African ancestry in their struggle to effectively assert their humanity in the face of the malevolent attitude of the men folk towards their self-fulfillment in life.

Womanism as an ideology therefore, is a literary outlook which is grounded in African culture and focuses on the unique experiences, struggles, needs and desires of the African woman. It is grounded on family-centered values and the fact that the womanist desires positive male companionship which is supportive and an integral part of positive African family values (Weems, 1998). The traditional family is so important to the African womanist who recognizes the need for a genuine connection between women. The kind of family gives them support in their search for solace in their time of need and can offer them insight in their time of confusion.

It is a struggle which involves commitment to issues affecting women and other wider social concerns.  Ogundipe (1989, p. 10-11) therefore believes that:

Delineating the experience of women as women, telling what it is to be a woman, destroying male stereotypes of women. But many African women writers like to declare that they are not feminist, as if it were a crime to be a feminist. . . . Yet, nothing could be more feminist than the writings of these women writers in their concern for and deep understanding of the experience and fates of women in society.

Thus reading Sa’adatu Sa’ar Mata {Sa’adatu the Shining Star} through the womanist lens will explain how popular-culture texts provide an understanding to the challenges women face in society.

Synopsis of Sa’adatu Sa’ar Mata (Sa’adatu the Shining Star)

Sa’adatu who is in love with Junaid for several years is denied the realization of her dreams of being his life partner due to a long standing misunderstanding between their grandparents. In desperation Junaid feels the only way out is to elope when he says, “I want you to brace up to the challenge. Take to my advice; let us leave here for good. I will take you to a religious leader’s house in Sokoto where you can live with his family. We won’t come back home until our parents accept our wish to marry” (7). Though educated, Sa’adatu does not defy society’s expectations and remains focused, and her reply is; “I cannot do that to my parents Junaid. Do you know the evil that will befall anyone who goes against his/her parents”? (7). Sa’adatu is subsequently forced on her father’s mentor’s son Habib. In protest, she laments to her father thus; “Baba, please! Don’t force me to a path that may lead me astray. My marriage to Habib would only lead to my destruction. Things would have been better if I love him. I do not love him” (33). Her father is quick to say, “How old are you Sa’adatu to dare tell me what will happen if you get married to my choice? Remember, whatever you do will be copied by your younger siblings” (33). This explanation by Baba is a proof of his identification with traditional culture despite his long time experience of modern culture. And as expected, tradition and culture gain the upper hand and she obeys her father and marries Habib.  Though the marriage is not an ideal one, she remains in it to obey tradition. Her early pregnancy in Habib’s house and her father’s sudden death from a fatal auto crash disrupts her dream of getting a university degree.  After three years in a loveless marriage, Habib divorces Sa’adatu irrevocably after an insignificant disagreement.  With the freedom she gets from her divorce, Sa’adatu braces up to the challenges ahead of her and goes back to the university to complete her disrupted education. After her university degree, she gets a job with a communication company where she rises to one of the highest positions in the firm. During one of her visits for a course in the United Kingdom, her friend Cinvia introduces her to a business project which she starts without hesitation. Though still unmarried, she gets rich beyond everyone’s expectation within a short time. She uses the money she gets to establish and train her siblings. Unexpectedly in the course of national assignment, she meets Junaid her old sweetheart who is at the peak of his career as an Assistant commissioner in the police force. They renew their love despite the many challenges they face in society especially from Junaid’s first wife. Never the less, they get married and have kids.

Discussion

From the synopsis given, it is clear that Ahmad produces her story from the womanist angle; her fictional writings show the true nature of the woman, her role, and her contribution to the development of her society, which are played down or neglected in the works of male writers. In her bid to revisit the female question, Ahmad creates credible Hausa women characters in her fictional works. In fact, she gives a matter-of-fact and almost positive representation of female reality in Hausa society and this according to Eziegbo (1990, p.155) is not to make excuses for them “but to validate their humanity and right to self determination and self actualization.  Ahmad’s  new image is of a Hausa woman character who seeks self identity by redefining herself, doing what she wants, and seeking how best she can to achieve her dreams without necessarily defying the religious, traditional and cultural roles assigned her first as a daughter, later as a wife and finally as a mother.  In general, Ahmad portrays her female characters as hardworking, industrious, business-like and economically independent. When Sa’adatu goes for a course in the United Kingdom, she uses the little money she earns in her spare time to start a business. This business later becomes a partnership with a colleague Cinvia. When the business becomes too immense for them to handle:  

Cinvia suggested that Sa’adatu should invite her brother Buhari from Nigeria to London to help out and he arrived London within 48 hours of receiving the information and it was then Sa’adatu briefed him about her business proposal. A name for a shopping complex to be opened in Nigeria was suggested and accepted by all; Lucky women shopping center. Within four months, the business had bloomed to become a huge success and within that time, Buhari had made about five trips to London (88).

Sa'adatu’s success and rise to fame are not without serious challenges. Upon her arrival back to Nigeria after a successful career mission in London, traditional pressures mounts on her to get married, her thoughts of getting Mr. Right are crushed by tradition and culture because, in Hausa society like in other African societies, a woman could be successful in life only if she rises through her father, brother, husband or son; otherwise she is labeled a prostitute and a disgrace to her society. Therefore, Abubakar, her fiancé’s request to marry Sa’adatu is not granted him by his mother who startles him with the following questions;

Who is her father? Is she a young girl or a divorcee? Abubakar bent his head down and replied. Mama she is a divorcee and she is from Kano. We work in the same office. His mother looked at him in disgust and said; ‘just tell me you are going to marry a prostitute. Get this right, you will never get my blessing if you go ahead to marry a woman who has lived alone with no male guardian outside the country (92).

This pronunciation by his mother ends his dream and hopes of making Sa’adatu his wife. Days after his absence, Sa’adatu:

Wondered what had stopped Abubakar from coming as promised. She knew without being told that Abubakar had not received his mother’s blessing to marry her. It then occurred to her that an educated and rich woman without a husband was in for troubles. Here was she Sa’adatu with education, beauty, and riches but without a man to call husband. She wished she had not been born (92).

So great and serious is this tradition that no matter how educated the Hausa woman is, she has to contend with the powers of religion and tradition.

The determination of the woman to find and uphold her identity by means of economic independence and education are the focal points that dominate the novel. To Ahmad, these constitute the unifying forces that could liberate women from the clutches of tradition. As a writer, Ahmad like other “African women have brought new angles and insights into fiction rejecting portrayals of women as self-effacing, docile and passive observers in a world of men” (Austen-Peters, 1989. p.33).  She strongly advocates the role of education as the tool guiding women toward identity. Sa’adatu’s education sees her taking up an occupation that is believed to be the domain of men. She becomes a renowned reporter in a reputable communication company. When she goes out desperately after a particular information, even her former boyfriend “Junaid wondered what kind of important story/ information Sa’adatu was out to get because she was so apprehensive over it, believing inability to get the story she desperately wanted might cost her the job she so much cherished”(12). Her good job and salary makes her live above her peers and every member of her family depend on her for their livelihood; and she is able to cater for them after her father’s death. She wears the best outfit and rides one of the best and most expensive cars in town. No wonder; “Everyone turned to look at Sa’adatu’s elegant car in surprise and most people were shocked and surprised  to see that such a car belonged to a woman”(37).

Even Uwani, Junaid’s wife could not hide her fears and concerns after seeing Sa’adatu and she laments to her friend, “Really Maman Isa I cannot hide my fears from you, did you notice how elegant and educated that woman looked yesterday. I could neither sleep nor eat throughout the day.”(39). She fears that her husband’s love for Sa’adatu would be ignited upon seeing Sa’adatu again and her fears are confirmed not long after.

Education and economic autonomy become avenues for survival for the oppressed woman. These sometimes create harmony that sustains compassionate union. Therefore, Ahmad advocates that women should be educated to change and transcend those negative effects of segregation and denial of rights. Ahmad illustrates the value of education and self determination of aspiring women like Sa’adatu who struggle against sexual discrimination and unhappy marital life to achieve individuality and independence and according to Ahmad: “Sa’adatu became very dedicated to her marriage and work which she was really enjoying. Sa’adatu was indeed a star. Though she was only a woman” (86). Through education Sa’adatu emancipated herself and became a force to reckon with in her community.

The new woman depicted by Ahmad as we see in Sa’adatu’s character is the assertive traditional woman who breaks out of the subordinate and dependant stereotype and not too radical in her quest for new and different ideas. As a womanist, she is positive in her outlook and accommodating; she is optimistic and hopes to have full freedom from male subjugation, economic dependence and societal injustice. No wonder, when Junaid has doubts about Sa’adatu and demands, “I want to know what you did to Habib to deserve an irrevocable divorce” (42). She aptly replies

Let me get this right Junaid, what do you want to arrive at by getting my answer? I believe you want answers from me because you have shown your interest to marry me, I want to pronounce out rightly right now that I am no more interested in the relationship. Get out of my house right now (42).

Upon realizing that this is a new Sa’adatu, one that would not allow herself be pushed about any longer, he succumbs to her terms and marries her thereby fulfilling their age long wish of becoming husband and wife.

Though, the main focus of Ahmad’s portrayal of her female characters is the heroine’s quest for emancipation, selfhood and identity through education, every female character's destiny is seemingly linked to that of a man and vice versa. This ideology is the basic principle that sustains womanism in literature. We see Saadatu tied to Habib; and then Junaid. For the womanist, the vital unity of the people evolving a philosophy of life acceptable to both men and women is better than a "debilitating and devastating political struggle for women's liberation, independence, and equality against men, to prove a feminist point" (Ogunyemi 1996, p. 121).

Conclusion

Today, we can categorically say that Balkisu Salisu Ahmad is a leading writer of Hausa fiction, considering the quantity and quality of her writings, and the numerical strength of her readership. Through writing, Ahmad creates a new vision of the emancipated female character who seeks self identity; one who struggles against cultural and traditional impediments that affect her in society to come out better than she is at the beginning the story.

Most importantly, Ahmad’s female characters are not weaklings but ones with strength of character, flexible, reliable and upright, revolutionary in a positive way and resist any form of subjugation that may deter them from developing. Ahmad does not portray women characters that are reflexive, adamant, submissive or implicit. In her writing, Ahmad believes that a truly liberated Hausa woman is one who is not totally dependent on her husband for everything. She is generally an educated person who is also strong–willed and stubbornly determined to carve out a perfect place for herself in a patriarchal society. To Ahmad, education is the only thing that can provide social security for the woman.

Baird (1997.p. 56) strongly believes that the neglect of female artists in literature has been an unfortunate omission, because females offer self-images, patterns of self-analysis, and enormous general insights into the female situation which are ignored by, or are inaccessible to, male writers in general. Finally, it is fitting to conclude with these words by Elaine Showalter as cited by Chukwuma (1987, p. 19) “In women’s hands—in women writers hands—lies the regeneration of the world. Let us go with our tongues of fire consecrated to an entirely holy work, cleansing, repairing, beautifying as we go, the page of the world’s history which lies before us now”.

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