Going Into The Stone Virgins

Nicole Park September 28, 2010 Sarah Mkhonza

Park 1

Because Yvonne Veras novel, The Stone Virgins, was such an influential and moving story, many critics took interest in analyzing and commenting on her work. Vera was able to extract much feedback because of the controversial topics that she incorporated into all of her works; such issues included rape, abuse of women, and even civil wars within her home country of Zimbabwe. Consequently, other writers had much to say about her arguments. Author of article The body is his, pulse and motion: Violence and Desire in Yvonne Veras The Stone Virgins, Sofia Kostelac, makes many arguments regarding the effects of post-independence forms of oppression; Annie Gagiano who wrote Reading The Stone Virgins as Vera's Study of the Katabolism of War, found Veras targeting of males in her story more obvious than the typical descriptions of African women. The different outlooks on the themes and ideas of the novel make the critics arguments interesting to compare. Zimbabwe had just reached a state of independence and this period of freedom was named the gukurahundi. One would think that the country became a place of more happiness and peace; however, Kostelac argues Veras point of irony that exists in her novel because Zimbabwe was in fact just as violent and chaotic. Kostelac supports Yvonne Veras idea that although Zimbabwe had just reached independence, women still experienced the same brutality that they did before the state of peace as well. Therefore, in The Stone Virgins, Vera recounts a story of two sisters getting violently abused. A military soldier killed one sister and raped the other. This demonstrated the argument that independence ultimately did not prevent mistreatment of women. Kostelac also agrees with putting the blame on the

Park 2

government, saying that Zimbabweans dominant systems did almost nothing to help alleviate the suffering of African women. Furthermore, she argues that Vera is trying to publicize the history of the struggles and survival that the women had to experience, therefore saying that Vera was speaking for her natives through her fictional stories. Because many of her people are voiceless or unheard, she thinks that Vera is speaking out for the Zimbabweans who receive no representation. Through her literary text, Yvonne Vera was able to redress the oppressive silences enforced by the dominant system. (Kostelac) Kostelac further emphasizes that Vera uses women as the source and root of the destruction of communities in Zimbabwe. Female abuse and violence ultimately caused the downfall of the country because combatants and belligerent militia of ZIRPA and ZANU, two guerrilla armies that were parts of different liberation parties, victimized all the women in the community. In The Stone Virgins, two perfect examples of this female abuse are depicted with cases of both rape and murder. Another intriguing argument that Kostelac brings to attention is her belief that literature in general provides an extensive space for subjects and words that have been suppressed by authorities. Because African American women have no power in society and government and cant really express their ideas by any means, literature is the perfect gateway to free speech. Kostelac thinks that Vera especially uses her fifth novel, The Stone Virgins, to release the suppressed narratives of the past concerning topics that have often been excluded from Zimbabwean history. Vera dives deep into the emotional and psychological aspects of African women and because Yvonne Vera also addresses the cause of the countrys suffering, this further

Park 3

heightens Kostelacs theories that Vera uses her novel as means of expressing rather hidden information. Unlike Kostelac, critic Annie Gagiano argues that Yvonne Vera puts more emphasis on the victimization of males in her novels rather than the females. Vera is known to support the lives of females and fighting against their oppression; however, Gagiano found herself realizing that The Stone Virgins was geared more towards the concentration and even support of males. She did not disagree that typically Vera is writing from a female point of view to shape the nation from a womans perspective. (Gagiano) Gagiano supports this idea because of the explicit detail that Vera provided while describing how Sibaso murdered and raped the two sisters Nonceba and Thenjiwe. However, Gagiano argues that Vera actually supports and somewhat defends Sibasos violent actions with her empathetic descriptions; it appears that Vera is trying to justify his actions through the negative effects of war. The argument is further supported by the idea that Vera uses Sibaso as the typical military soldier going off to war, to return home in a very unstable and unhealthy emotional state due to the traumatic experiences in battle. Sibaso was only 18 when entering the war and served for almost fourteen years to return to a fatherless home; he was told that his father was possibly dead in jail. Gagianos main thesis conveys that Yvonne Vera justifies his violent behavior, stating that he became so permeated with its [wars] destructive powers that his humanity [was] irrecoverable. (Gagiano) Essentially, Sibaso had been turned into a permanent monster and therefore could not control his inhumane crimes. Gagiano persistently argues her point because of Veras continual reference to the lonely and lost looks of

Park 4

the male war veterans throughout the novel. She calls them lost, plagued, troubled, and inaccessible. It is evident that Vera was giving reason for the horrific actions of psychologically damaged men. It is evident that Yvonne Veras novel The Stone Virgins extracts very different and opposing views yet some similar ones. Although article authors Sofia Kostelac an Annie Gagiano did agree on some aspects of the novel, they ultimately had their own personal opinions on the subject. One critical point is that they both took interest in Yvonne Vera and gave her much credit for writing about such sensitive topics including rape, incest, abortion, and abuse because those discussion matters were often not addressed throughout dominant history in Zimbabwe. Reading both of their articles is interesting because one could view the book with two totally different perspectives, allowing the reader to understand Veras novel with different opinions. Gagiano and Kostelac made very solid arguments about the way Vera incorporated history into her story to speak out to an audience of readers. Vera ultimately portrayed her powerful voice and words through literature and was able to reach out to a group of people who cared.

Park 5