Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes A quiz, some discussion points, and a critic’s view

Quiz – In small groups take 5 minutes or so to discuss one of the following questions – as assigned. Then take 5 minutes to write out your response.

Questions: 1. Critics have observed that the novel is really not a love story at all, but instead that it is a critique of the institution of marriage. Do you agree or disagree? What is Aidoo’s ultimate comment on marriage? Do you agree or disagree with this comment? 2. Critics have observed that the novel isn’t really a love story, but instead is more about the relationships between women – mothers/daughters, best friends, mutual victims. Do you agree or disagree? Why? 3. Critics have observed that the three women in the novel – Esi, Fusena, and Opokuya – represent three different levels on the continuum of female oppression. Describe their situations and the differences you see in them in these terms. 4. How does Aidoo’s imagery (dealing primarily with food and cars) support her narrative’s assertions about women’s roles and rights and about marriage?

One question left over -- Look at the grandmother’s “advice section” p What’s her opinion on truth? (109) On a good man? (109) On male/female relationships? ( ) On weddings? (110) On the possibility of change? (111) What do you think of Esi’s thoughts on p. 114 about why her parents chose to educate her?

Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes The Woman’s Voice in African Literature By Irene M. Danysh

Style Danysh begins by observing that she doesn’t think there is a male or a female style of writing. She says that gender mostly likely affects style, but that because culture shapes gender, it’s not really productive to talk about gender differences influencing style.

Comparison of Women’s and Men’s Novels Instead, she thinks it would be more useful to compare novels looking for differences in content. One major difference she notes is that Men create male protagonists, while Women, though they almost always portray protagonists of their own sex, also sometimes create a male protagonist. Sometimes, they focus on a couple, but even then, they occasionally give more attention to the male than the female.

Male/Female Protagonist She claims that women do this because they’re taught to identify with the male point of view, so it’s easier for them to put themselves in men’s shoes, so to speak, when creating characters. Also, women are more limited in their movements if men are not involved. In some cultures, women can’t travel without men, or go to the market without being accompanied by a man, so men are more necessary to women’s fiction.

For example... In Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, the focus is on the female protagonist getting an education, but her fate rests on her dependence on her uncle and her brother’s defeat. In Changes, Aidoo manages to tell a woman’s story, focusing on female experiences and female friendship, but she can’t do this without referencing males.

African Male Writers Tendency to Idealize Male writers tend to make heroes/saviours of their protagonists. Whereas female writers, though they are sympathetic with their protagonists, tend to possess a profound sense of their vulnerabilities. They recognize that their protagonists live in a flawed world which they make no pretensions toward saving.

Seeing the world from different points of view -- Danysh claims that men are more active, more involved in leadership positions so that they are in a position to dream dreams, to point a way out of corruption and bondage. Women, however, are more apt to be realistic about the chances for reform/revolution, because they have seen women with talent and genius be crushed by the circumstances of life. Their idea of a hero is an ordinary person surviving an ordinary life.

Masculine/Feminine Tone Masculine tone tends toward the solemn, nostalgic and ironic. There is a distance between the character and the author. They are some times overly earnest in an attempt to forward their ideological aims. Feminine tone tends toward identification. Women writers are engaged in their protagonist’s aspirations and failures. The tone is often sympathetic, but not sentimental.

Transformation Male writers tend to move in their novels toward social or public transformation. Female writers more often deal with personal transformation. For women the personal is the political. Her cry is for more basic freedoms than her male counterparts. She wants education, freedom from sexual and reproductive objectification, stability in her marriage and her environment. She must battle for her own identity and existence before she can think about larger social and public issues.

Changes: A Love Story Danysh concludes that Aidoo’s difference from her male colleagues is announced from the beginning of her novel, from the very title. Few novels by African men are love stories. And, this novel undercuts the traditional love story of romance followed by happy union. Instead, this is a marriage story, fraught with all that this implies.

Some Questions: Is Esi idealized? Does Aidoo make her out to be a hero? If not, how is she portrayed? Is there any suggestion that Esi has done the right or the wrong thing? Does Aidoo condemn Oko? Or Ali? Or Kubi? Is Fusena shown as a jealous wife? Is she a victim, too? Is Opokuya perfect? What are her weaknesses? Is the novel too forgiving? Too unpolemical?

Wei-hsiung Wu on Changes Wu says that Aidoo sends a fivefold message to her readers: It is naïve for African women to think they can succeed in balancing a happy marriage with a challenging career without compromising their freedom and independence Society should not dictate that a woman must marry African men are still accorded more privileges in marriage than women While African men are largely responsible for this inequality, African women – either by acquiescing to the status quo or by perpetuating the language and attitudes of patriarchy have contributed to its continued existence As long as polygamy is sanctioned and practiced by African societies, women will be victimized by its excesses.