Examining trauma and resilience in two Namibian texts: Making a Difference and Mukwahepo
Loading...
Date
2021-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Namibia University of Science and Technology
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine trauma and resilience in two Namibian Texts:
Making a difference and Mukwahepo. The texts comprise of a biography and an
autobiography respectively. The authors are two female Namibian authors who shared their
experiences during the Namibian war of liberation. They present their stories from two similar
experiences. The trauma and resilience theories were applied as a lens to try and understand
how they suffered and what mechanisms they engaged to overcome their struggles. The
study used a qualitative method to analyse the two texts. The text selection criteria was used
to select these two texts. First, these texts are Namibian female-authored novels that were
not previously studied, and therefore do not repeat a previous formal study. There are no
previous established works of the Namibian literature that narrate liberation war historical
events. These Namibian-authored texts offer a new set of understanding that nourishes that
Namibian literary scene. There are very few literature authors and scholars in Namibia that it
is merely impossible to conduct a proper literature review. The study results established that
trauma could impact individuals in different ways depending on their traumatic experiences.
The most traumatising experiences of Mukwahepo was living in poverty in independent
Namibia after sacrificing a lifetime contributing to the liberation struggle. On the other hand,
although Amathila did not live a life of poverty, liberation war memories still haunted her to
an extent that she ended up divorced. This was because she spent long periods of time
separated from her husband, Ben Amathila during the liberation struggle and in postindependent
Namibia. Both Mukwahepo and Amathila overcame their traumatic experiences
by sharing their experiences in autobiographical and biographical writing. Mukwahepo who
was barren, resorted to adopting refugee camp children as a way of comforting herself.
Similar to Amathila, she devoted her life in health services developmental projects in
independent Namibia. The study recommends that female Namibian liberation war veterans
need emotional support from government and fellow comrades to heal them from their
traumatic experiences of the liberation struggle.
Description
THESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY (NUST)
Keywords
Thesis, Namibia, Trauma, Resilience, Liberation struggle
Citation
Uusiku, S. K. K. (2021). Examining trauma and resilience in two Namibian texts: Making a Difference and Mukwahepo [Master's thesis: Namibia University of Science and Technology].