Starving for Recognition: The Body Politics of Eating Disorders in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions

This article explores trauma-related eating disorders in Nervous Conditions (1988) by Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga. Previous postcolonial criticism of the novel sheds light on the protagonist, Tambu, and her coming-of-age in colonial Zimbabwe. A pivotal issue in the text overlooked by scholars is Tambu’s cousin, Nyasha’s eating disorder. With its central focus on the character of Nyasha, the research seeks to present an in-depth analysis of the consequences of domestic abuse on pubescent females in an oppressive patriarchal culture. The article examines Nyasha’s anorexia as emblematic of her rebellion against the dominant patriarchal system that denies her agency and forces her into silence. This self-destructive form of protest, the study demonstrates, is, paradoxically, a means of survival and control within this authoritative environment. By situating Nyasha’s case within the frame of trauma theory, the article seeks to offer an original insight into the discussion of traumatic eating disorders in African women’s writing. The research concludes that Nyasha’s self-starvation is a language of resistance to the subjugation she endures in her native Shona culture.