Identifying Perceived Patriarchal Practices Perpetrated by Female Characters in Sesotho sa Leboa’s Two Novels

A Liberal Feminist Perspective

Abstract

African patriarchal culture traditionally dictates gender roles, often positioning women as subordinate and lacking autonomy. This paper argues that in response to these constraints, African women in contemporary literature adopt imported practices, sometimes resulting in a reversal of oppression. Specifically, this paper’s analysis explored the patriarchal practices perpetrated by female protagonists in two Sesotho sa Leboa novels, Ke Nako Ya Ka and Ra tla ra Lokologa, Eye! Employing a feminist research methodology, this paper used liberal feminism as its analytical framework to analyse how these characters negotiate power. The existing literature confirmed that patriarchal norms are well-documented in Sesotho sa Leboa and neighbouring African-language literatures, and that liberal feminism, while established, remained an underexplored lens in Sesotho sa Leboa literature. In essence, no previous study has traced how liberated female characters in these specific novels reproduce patriarchal oppression against their own husbands, a gap this paper addresses. The findings revealed that the protagonists’ pursuit of freedom is openly articulated and, within the narrative, appears to achieve its stated objectives. However, this pursuit is narratively complicated by the marginalisation and alienation of their male counterparts. This dynamic raises questions about whether liberal feminism’s aspiration to balanced equality is fully realised in these texts, a consideration this paper explores in alignment with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 5. By exposing this contradictory reproduction of subjugation, this paper contributes critical insights to ongoing debates on women’s marginalisation and empowerment, complicating the assumption that female liberation in literary representation is necessarily synonymous with equitable social transformation.