Women’s Fictions of Colonial Realism

Abstract

The 1930s saw a shift in emphasis in the writing of colonial women from the romantic genre to a more realistic style. The depression dampened spirits, and the rise of fascism and Stalinism focused attention onto political and moral issues. The “frivolities” of the twenties gave way to a more sober, even sombre, mood. Colonial literary “realism” was a question of perception but, as Valentine Cunningham has rightly pointed out in another context, what is perceived to be a reality is “as much a part of the truth, the reality of the time, as what ‘actually’ happens.”¹ The urban expansion that was set in motion after World War I increased steadily throughout the interwar period. In Kenya, Nairobi grew from a “collection of huts” to an embryonic modern city, while in Algeria more settlers moved from the country to coastal cities and towns of Algiers, Oran, Bone (present-day Annaba), and Bougie (Béjaia) or to inland centers such as Constantine and Tizi-Ouzou.²As urban centers grew so too did the service sectors in them, providing employment opportunities for women. Women in both colonies attained higher profiles in the public sphere, culturally and politically. The growth of the cities and towns, coupled with continued land expropriation, caused displaced Africans and Algerians to drift into these centers in search of a livelihood. More often than not they ended up as manual laborers, although a minority did enter the service sector.

… no person of one race and culture can truly interpret events from the angle of individuals belonging to a totally different race and culture.

Elspeth Huxley, Red Strangers

… une race est pire qu’une mère nourrice … on retrourne fatalement à sa race …

Lucienne Favre, Orientale 1930