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Abstract

Resistance to apartheid and its legacies in South Africa has been predominantly figured as androcentric and political. This perception overlooks other modes of resistance, such as non-violent resistance within the quotidian space. Many South African writers have utilised the autobiographical genre to narrativise their experience of apartheid and its post-period and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime is a veritable example. Most critical studies on Noah’s Born a Crime have overlooked Patricia’s, Trevor Noah’s mother’s, narrative that underlies Trevor Noah’s transformation and growth. This necessitates the analytical exploration of Patricia’s narrative from the perspective of black female resistance to the apartheid system and its residues and her womanist temper to oppressive patriarchal traditions. This paper deployed postcolonialism and womanism to examine Patricia’s subtle resistance and contradictory refusals. This study concludes that Patricia’s resistance and womanist temper can empower fellow females in parallel restrictive geographies and promote a conciliatory approach to gender relations.

Plain Language Summary

Patricia’s Refusals of Apartheid, Patriarchy, and Communal Restrictions in Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime

This article examines how the story of Patricia, Trevor’s mother, in Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime is essential for understanding how resistance to apartheid policies goes beyond the public and political space. Although the focus is usually on the political which focuses on violent resistance, Patricia’s story represents how Black women refuse to accept apartheid policies that limit their freedom and reject traditional customs that oppress women. The story also depicts her refusals to patriarchal and communal oppression. These refusals are interesting because they promote alternative means of protest, which are mostly non-violent. This study uses postcolonialism and womanism to analyse how Patricia’s story in Noah’s Born a Crime is exemplary and empowering for Black women in similar situations. Understanding Patricial’s refusal of limiting policies by the state and her community empowered and transformed the life of her son, Trevor. She refused to be confined to the homeland like some Black women, strove to get educated, improved her financial standing, got her desired child, and parented her beyond the boundaries of racism and hatred. This paper shows the significance of Patricia’s story in Noah’s autobiography and argues that it is actually the foundation of Noah’s transformation. Hence, Patricia represents the stories of many Black South African women who defy the apartheid system and traditional restrictions and the gains of their actions. This is an empowering story for other women in similar conditions. Similarly, Patricia’s refusal of unwanted policies shows the significance of passive and non-violent resistance to unwanted situations, which means violence does not solve every problem. For a peaceful society, we need to promote alternative means of refusing the unwanted.

Keywords

Trevor Noah non-violent female resistance womanism in Africa apartheid literature patriarchy female empowerment

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