The Dynamics of Survival and Motherhood in Calixthe Beyala’s Your Name Shall Be Tanga

This essay examines the representation of survival and motherhood in Calixthe Beyala’s Your Name Shall Be Tanga. Proceeding from Lauretta Ngcobo’s concept of motherhood in her seminal essay. “African Motherhood- Myth and Reality”, it explores the connection between debilitating economic condition and the failure of a mother and the society to nurture the girl- child. Survival is depicted in the novel as the major motivation for adult characters' actions and misdemeanour while children struggle against them by striving to create an alternative world of self-actualisation. This conflict manifests in the novel through contrastive characterization and extended use of metaphors. Throughout the text. Beyala portrays the pursuit of personal survival by the mother as an antithesis to the child’s development. This study suggests that the mother’s traditional role as a ’life giver, nurturer, and life coach is neither static nor independent of factors in a society that deforms and exterminates women’s aspirations.

Keywords: Survival Poverty Motherhood Girl-Child Beyala

Author

• Folasade Hunsu
  Department of English,
  Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria