ECHOES-Kundi

Far
aja

I
NTRODUCTI
ON

InmostcasesKundi Far
ajaspeaksfort
helowerclassandtheoppressed.Inthi
spoem his
attenti
oni sfocusedspeci f
ical
lyonwomenshowi nghowhi ssociet
yincl
udinghimselfbei
nga
man, hasmi str
eatedwomeni ndif
fer
entspher
esofl i
fe.Hetakesamor efemini
ststandand
speaksf rom af eministpoi
ntofv i
ewtoshowthatawomani soppressedfrom f
ami l
yto
nationallevel.Asar esul
thebecomesaspokesper sonorawoman’ svoi
ceagainstthi
s
stereotype,henceechoes.Anechoi sasoundthatisrefl
ect
edbackof fawallorinsi
dea
conf i
nedspacesot hatanoi seappear
stoberepeated.KundiFaraj
aisechoingthecryof
women.

THEMATI
CANALYSI
S

FEMI
NISM ANDWOMENEMPOWERMENT

Femi nism isabelief/i

deologyt hatwomenshoul dhavethesamer ight s,powerandopportuni
ty
asmen.Tot hemostpar tt hepoetseemst obeont hesideoffemi nism mov ementi n
advocat i
ngf orwomenr i
ght s.Despi t
ealltheinternati
onalconferencesand‘ ‘
univer
sal
declarati
ons’’infavouroff emal eequalit
y,thelivesofmostwomenar oundthewor l
dremain
confinedbypr ej
udiceandsoci al oppressi
on.Themeansbywhi chmal esupremacyi senf
orced
varyconsi derabl
yf r
om onesoci etytoanot her(andbetweensoci al classeswi t
hineachsoci
ety)
,
butev erywher emenar etaughtt or egardthemsel vesassuperior,andwomenar et
aughtto
acceptt hi
s.Ver yfewwomenhav eaccesst opowerandpr ivi
l
egeexceptv iathei
rconnect
ionto
aman.

vFemi
nism appear
sint
hef
oll
owi
ngspher
es.

Genderi
nequal
i
ty.

Thepoetadvocat
esf
orgenderequal
i
tyi
nar
eassuchasj
obs,
educat
ion(
school
),and
l
eader
ship.

Thatt
henumberofgi
rl
satschool

Hasal
way
sbeensmal
l
er

Thant
hatofboy
s.

*
***
***
***
***
**

Thati
thasal
way
sgi
venanar
rowchance

Forwoment
obecome

Teacher
s
Phy
sici
ans

Sci
ent
ist
s

Leader
sofSt
ate

Genderdi
scr
imi
nat
ion.

Healsoshowsthatwomenaresegregat
edev
eni
nsomer
eli
giousi
nst
it
uti
onandconsi
der
ed
unhol
y,ungi
ft
edandunsanct
if
ied.

Mychur
chi
sgui
l
ty

Thati
thasdecl
aredwomen

Unhol
y,

Unsanct
if
ied,

Ungi
ft
edt
oGod

MARXI
SM ANDWOMENLI
BERATI
ON

From it
sinception,t
heMar xi
stmov ementhaschampi onedf emal eequali
tyandwomen’ sr ights,
whileregardi
ngwomen’ soppression( l
i
ker acial,
nat i
onal andot herformsofspecialoppressi on)
assomet hingthatcannotbeer adi
catedwi t
houtov ert
urningt hecapital
istsoci
alsyst
em t hat
nurt
uresandsust ai
nsi
t.Marxistsassertthatwomen’ sliberationisboundupwi ththestruggl e
againstcapit
ali
sm because,i
nt hefinalanalysis,sexualoppr essionservesthematerial
int erests
ofther ul
i
ngclass.Theelement sofMar xism appeari nthel aststanzawhenhesay s;

Todenyt
hem f
reedom

Meanst
oref
usehumanequal
i
ty,

Meanst
oacceptcapi
tal
i
sm

Deepi
nourhear
ts

Andal
someansr
efusi
ng

Thedev
elopmentoft
hemaj
ori
ty

Mar xi
stsbel
ievei
nmajori
tyr
uleandwel
far
eandareagai
nstcapi
tal
i
sm.Consider
ingthe
surroundi
ngatmospher
eofthepoli
ti
cal
sit
uat
ionoft
heti
mewhent hepoem waswr i
tt
enitf
it
s
thatimmediatecont
ext
.
AWARENESS

Thereisagr owingawar enessamongt hepeopl

eonwomen’ sri
ghtsamongdi f
fer
entsoci
al
groupsinthesoci et
y.Thepoetseemst obeawareofhisfault
sandhi snat
ionatl
argefor
perpetuat
ingthisstereoty
peagainstwomenf orsolong.Howev er
,onhissi
deheadmi t
sthathe
di
di tunknowinglybecausehei nher
it
edt hi
sst
upidi
tyfrom hi
sparents.

Ipl
eadgui
l
ty

ThatIhav
einher
it
edt
hest
upi
dit
y

Ofmysl
aver
yagepar
ent
s

ThatIhav
epr
olongedi
nequal
i
ty

ThatIhav
econt
inuedoppr
essi
on

Thoughunknowi
ngl
y

I
tisthi
sawarenesst
hatmakeshi
mtaket
imet
oeducat
eot
her
saboutt
hei
mpor
tanceofgi
vi
ng
opport
uni
tyt
owomen.

POSI
TIONOFWOMEN.

Thepoethasal
sodi
scusseddi
ff
erentposi
ti
onst
hatwomenoccupyi
nthi
ssoci
ety
.

a) AsTool
sforpl
easur
e

Thatmywomani
sat
ool

Tof
ulf
ilmysexual
desi
res

b)Asapr
oper
ty

Ipl
eadgui
l
ty

ThatIhav
eregar
dedmywoman

Asmypr
oper
ty

c) Asasour
ceofi
ncomeandasl
ave

Theyknew

Thatt
heywer
emaki
ngweal
thoutofme

Becauset
hei
rgi
rlwoul
dwor
kforme
Justl
i
keasl
ave

d)Womenar
eoppr
essed

ThatIhav
econt
inuedoppr
essi
on

Thoughunknowi
ngl
y

e) Chi
l
drenbear
sandcar
etaker
s.

Agar
den

Wher
eIpl
antmyseeds

Soast
ogetchi
l
dren

Whi
char
emi
ne

Andnother
s

f
) Womenhav
enor
ightt
oinher
itpr
oper
tyoft
hei
rhusbands

(
Chi
l
dren)
Whohav
ether
ight

Toi
nher
itmypr
oper
ty

Andnother

REPERCUSSI
ONOFBRI
DEPRI
CE

Bri
depricehasbecomeacompl icat
edphenomenonamongAf r
icasocieti
es.Ther
earewomen
whosuppor titandthosewhoopposei t
.Therearemenwhosuppor titandthosewhoopposeit.
Thepersonahowev er
,takesanegat
iveviewaboutbri
depri
ce.Heshowst hatiti
sthepayment
ofbri
depricet hatmakeswoment obereducedtoapr oper
tyl
evel
.Mostwomenexper i
encethe
suf
feri
ngint heirmarr
iedlif
eandaretr
eatedli
keslav
esbecausetheirhusbandspaidf
orthem.
Hesays:

Ipl
eadgui
l
ty

ThatIhav
eregar
dedmywoman

Asmypr
oper
ty,
BecauseIpai
dthebr
idepr
ice

Toherpar
ent
s.

Whatdi
dherpar
ent
sthi
nk

Whent
heydemanded

Thecows,

Thet
anksofbeer
,

Thegoat
s,

Themoney

Theyknew

Thatt
heywer
emaki
ngweal
thoutofme

Becauset
hei
rgi
rlwoul
dwor
kforme

GUI
DINGQUESTI
ONS

1)Commentont
heuseofFi
gur
esofspeech

a) Met
aphor

Thatmywomani
sat
ool

(
mywoman)i
sagar
denwher
eIpl
antmyseed.

b)Si
mil
e

ThatIhav
eregar
dedmywomanasmypr
oper
ty

Becauset
hei
rgi
rlwoul
dwor
kformej
ustl
i
keasl
ave

c) Rhet
ori
cal
quest
ion

Whatdi
dherpar
ent
sthi
nk…
d)Par
all
eli
sm

Thecows

Thet
anksofbeer

Thegoat
s

Themoney

I
ntheki
tchen

I
nthechur
ch

Andathome

e) Per
soni
fi
cat
ion

Mynat
ionpl
eadsgui
l
tyt
hati
thasshutaney
etot
her
ight
sofwomen.

Mychur
chi
sgui
l
tyt
hati
thasdecl
aredwomenunhol
y…

2)Whati
sthet
oneandmoodoft
hepoem?

Thet
onei
ssy
mpat
het
ict
owomensoi
tcr
eat
esasy
mpat
het
icmoodt
owar
dswomen.

3)Whoi
stheper
sona?Howdoy
ouknow?

Theper
sonai
samanwhoi
sawar
eofwomenr
ight
s.(
Afemi
nist
)Weknowt
hisbecausehe
say
s

“
Ipl
eadgui
l
ty

ThatIhav
eregar
dedmywoman

Asmypr
oper
ty”
4)Commentont
her
hymi
ngscheme.

Thepoem hasi
rr
egul
arr
hymeschemewi
thunequal
lengt
handnumberofl
i
nesandst
anzas.

5)Howmanyst
anzasar
ether
e?

Ther
ear
eni
ne(
9)st
anzasi
nthi
spoem.

6)Whatt
ypeoft
hepoem i
sthi
s?

I
tisamoder
nf r
eeversepoem butspeci
fi
cal
l
yiti
sanar
rat
ivepoem asi
ttel
l
sast
oryofhow
womenaremist
reat
ed.

7) Whati
sthemeani
ngoft
het
it
leoft
hepoem?‘
Echoes’
.

Lit
eral
lyspeaki
ng,anechoisaref
lectedsoundont hesurf
aceorwal
laf
tertheor i
ginalsound
hasstopped.Inthepoem t
hepoetusesSy mboli
ctitl
e“Echoes”t
omeanthattheper sonwhoi s
speaki
ngisjustrefl
ect
ingt
heproblemsthatarefacingwomenandnothimself.Soheechoes
thecri
esofwomen.

8)Whatmessagesdoy
ougetf
rom t
hepoem?

Ø Genderdi
scr
imi
nat
ionshoul
dbedi
scour
aged.

Ø Womenshoul
dbegi
venequal
right
stoownori
nher
itpr
oper
ti
esasmen.

Ø Womenshoul
dnotbet
akenast
ool
stosat
isf
ythesexual
desi
res.

Ø Womenshoul
dnotbet
reat
edassl
avesbyt
hei
rhusbands.

Ø Br
idepr
iceshoul
dbedi
scour
agedasi
tmakeswoment
obet
reat
edaspr
oper
ti
es.

9)I
sthepoem r
elev
antt
oTanzani
atoday
?

Thepoem i
srel
evantt
oTanzani
atodayi
nanumberofway
s.Ther
ear
emanysoci
eti
esi
nwhi
ch;

Ø Womenhav
enor
ightt
oownori
nher
itpr
oper
ti
es.

Ø Womenar
etr
eat
edassl
aves

Ø Womenar
etakenast
ool
sforpl
easur
ebymen.

Ø Ther
eareal
sodif
fer
entNGOst
hatf
ightf
orwomenempower
mentandemanci
pat
ionsuchas
TAMWA, TAWLA,
TGNP, WAMAet
.