UNCELEBRATED HEROES AND HEROINES IN MAAZA MENGISTE’S THE SHADOW KING, BENEATH THE LION’S GAZE AND IRENE SABATINI’S AN ACT OF DEFIANCE

Abstract

This thesis examines the theme of uncelebrated heroes and heroines in Maaza Mengiste’s novels The Shadow King, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze and Irene Sabatini’s novel An Act of Defiance. The central argument is that Mengiste and Sabatini excavate and portray the overlooked heroic contributions of some uncelebrated male and female characters to honour their legacy and illuminate their significant yet under-recognised roles in the building of their nations in the aforementioned novels. The study establishes that the heroism of some male and female characters is depicted through their participation in fighting against political oppression and injustice. The heroism of the female characters is further revealed in their fight against sexual oppression. The heroic attributes that the male and female characters display are also examined in this study. This thesis also explores different factors that lead to the uncelebrated life of the heroes and heroines in the primary texts. This study hinges on Postcolonial, Marxism and Feminism theories. It draws from the ideas of a postcolonial theorist, Frantz Fanon, it relies on his concept of violence and his outlook of what happens in a post independent nation. His views are relevant in different ways, for instance, examining how male and female characters employ violence as a liberating force from political oppression in the novels under study. Drawing from Louis Althusser’s concepts of Ideological and Repressive state apparatuses, the study examines the hostile atmosphere that the heroes and heroines emerge from. The study also draws from the ideas of Judith Butler and Patricia McFadden. Butler’s concept of mournable bodies is relevant in exploring whether the characters depicted in the primary texts are worthy of public recognition and mourning. Her other concept of gender performance is pertinent in understanding the heroism of female characters in their fight against political and sexual oppression. McFadden’s views on sexuality and politics are pertinent in exploring different means that the heroines employ to fight against political and sexual oppression in the primary texts. Throughout the study, it has been established that the heroism of the male and female characters is reflected through their violent and non-violent heroic actions in fighting against political and sexual oppression.