파울리나 시지아느의 성장 소설에 나타난 탈식민적 여성 주체

Abstract

Mozambique, which experienced Portuguese colonial rule until the late 20th century, is a society where the mixture of native culture and Western culture introduced by Portugal is distinctly evident. The debut novel of Mozambique’s first female novelist, Paulina Chiziane, Ballad of Love in the Wind, focuses on the characteristics of this world view and the growth process of the female character within Mozambican society. The novel can be characterized as a typical Bildungsroman, as it focuses on the protagonist’s internal and external conflicts and the resulting changes in perception. However, unlike male protagonists in traditional Bildungsroman who typically experience linear development through gradual harmony with their community, the protagonist in Chiziane’s work embodies a subaltern subject who is ostracized from both the traditional and Western ambivalent societies, not belonging to either. The worlds that the protagonist undergoes, as rites of passage, constantly delay or even refuse her growth, forming an anti-growth plot. Through this, the protagonist establishes herself as an independent subject who navigates her own life. This narrative can be interpreted in a postcolonial context, exploring new possibilities that are not dichotomous between the ambivalent societies. Furthermore, the protagonist’s process of speaking, which prominently features African traditional orality-based narrative techniques, provides a stage for the subaltern subject to transform from a ‘objectified object’ to a ‘speaking subject’. This study aims to examine the growth aspects of the female subject navigating internal growth and external coordination within the ambivalent world mixed within the national framework of Mozambique. At the same time, it seeks to explore the implications of orality as a characteristic of the subaltern narrative technique, distinguishing it from the European traditional female Bildungsroman.