bahareads's Reviews (1.09k)

Oyeronke Oyewumi’s The Invention of Women is a highly theoretical book. Oyewumi engages with many theorists and scholars from different aspects of academia. She challenges the conclusions many of these scholars have reached in their own studies. Throughout the work, she names over twenty scholars with whom she is conversing in the historiography, especially when it comes to ‘Africa’ and Nigeria at large and then the Yoruba region in a more contained manner. She uses their own words to break down their conclusions, seeing in what ways a Western viewpoint created assumptions that caused the conclusions the scholars have come to. Oyewumi continually hammers her arguments into the text, and while her writing might be considered dogmatic by some it is refreshing to see such conviction on the page.

The Invention of Women raises the question of whether it is possible to do “independent research questions and interests given the western origins of most disciplines and the continued Western dominance of the world” (179). Oyewumi investigates the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of how gender came to be constructed in the south-western Yoruba society and how gender is constituted as a fundamental category in academic scholarship on the Yoruba (xi). While The Invention of Women could be considered a ‘study of gender’ (or lack thereof), it is also a study of the sociology of knowledge. Oyewumi does not shy away from clearly stating her biases in her work, she lays out clearly that she believes social identity, personal experiences and the nature of one’s research impacts the work that one does. She names her social identity, major personal experiences, and how it affects the nature of her own work. She clearly states that events and processes of her life were significant in shaping the questions for this book (xvi). By doing so she allows readers to see clearly the idea of scholarly ‘unbiases’ that many claim to hold is unattainable by academics. Oyewumi limits herself to Oyo-Yoruba culture in the process of this (xii).

Oyewumi recognizes that she is fighting a vast scholarship to show that gender was not an organizing principle in Yoruba society. The focus on patrilineage by anthropologists are significant in deconstructing gender in Yoruba society as the idea to impose gender vision on labour and motherhood is based on assumptions that scholars make (73-74). There are distinctions about history as a lived experience, a record of lived experience in oral tradition and written history that Oyewumi makes (80)

The focus of colonization and how the colonial state pushes the creation of woman as a category contributes to the histography. Oyewumi builds upon people like Frantz Fanon and Albert Memmi. Within the final chapter, Oyewumi looks at how gender was added to the Yoruba language and how Yoruba was and is changing as a result of contact with English and new structures of thought. The Invention of Women is deeply compelling, and a thought-provoking read

Read this on audiobook - amazing narration.

The beginning part of the book was tough to get through. There was a lot was going on but I once we got to 1/3 of the way in it became really enjoyable and I couldn't put it down. I wish there wasn't a cliff hanger... but the universe expansion is going INSANE. The characters' depth and growth was superb

Stay with Me is not memorable though the ending was SHOCKING. Yejide and Akin struggle with infertility issues which results in them entering into polygamy, forced upon them by Akin's mother. Yejide desires so badly to be a mother, yet she also wishes for Akin to be solely loyal to her. Akin has no desire to have a second wife, yet they take one.

At times the book stays stuck in a loop of the characters making the same choices, but it keeps you reading. Once again when I tell you the ending had me HOT, it had me HOT. Throughout the book, Abedayo throws these shocking plot points at the reader which moves the plot along. Those points kept my intrigue peaked when I felt like perhaps putting the book down. The plot is character-based. It is straight forward and there's not much descriptive text.

Stay with Me deals with many themes woven into the text. There are Nigerian politics and culture meshed together in the background of the narrative. I wish I could put my finger one what exactly was lacking for me.

The House of Plain Truth is a story of family fractured. Pearline leaves to go to Jamaica to help take care of her father, who soon passes away. THOPT claims to chart the family's past in Cuba, but readers see only bits and pieces of their life in Cuba which told from Pearline's POV make little sense in the overall narrative. I wanted to explore more of the history between Cuba and Jamaican immigrants. It's jarring how the book flips back and forth in the timeline without warning.

THOPT has phenomenal writing. I imagined myself at the family house and on the land. Pearline is a great main character! I loved how she fought for their family home and to know her family history. The exploration of family and family dynamics is so frustrating (in a good way)!! Pearline's sisters feel some way towards Pearline because she has lived in America all this time while they have stayed in Jamaica. The other characters are more one-dimensional. The plot was lacking in spaces. I wondered where Hemans was taking us, it felt like Pearline was going round' and round' in circles while new characters were being adopted into the fold.

I am highly confused at Pearline's father's DEEP anger towards his older children for their refusal to return to Jamaica. It is a slight to his pride and wounding by the fact that he could not make it in that land. However the fact that her mother let communication dead between her and her older children is a little insane to me. EXTREMELY INSANE TO ME ACTUALLY. Something was missing in THOPT which resulted in the 3 stars.

In Sankofa Anna Bain looks back to the past to discover herself. She travels down the path of realizing that she is related to the president-turned-dictator of a nation in West Africa, Bamana. Sankofa is a slow burn, yet a quick read. I listened to it on audio and enjoyed the narrator immensely. I haven't read many books surrounding middle age women so this was a change. Anna is trying to find herself outside of motherhood and being a wife. Throughout the book, readers see Anna fully recognise all the racism she's experienced in England and reconcile that to herself. Anna's mother (a white woman) tried to make Anna think 'nothing was wrong with her;' and honestly, there is nothing wrong with her, she's just a mixed-race woman growing up in the 60s or 70s(?)

The plot of the book would pick up pace and then slow down again. There's a lot of internal pondering on the part of Anna, we're privy to ALL of her thoughts. I did not like any of the characters in this book. Anna's husband and child were annoying for most of the book. I enjoyed Anna off and on but I liked Anna less when she went to West Africa. She comes into the country with a Western mindset and, honestly, does not try to change the way she thinks at all. She's very opinionated on things she knows nothing about. I could expand but I can't remember particular points. The ending of the book was interesting... I'm glad she was open and reborn into her African self. It was a neat wrap-up for the book.

Sandra Riley is a playwright who, after spending time in The Bahamas, decided to start writing a history of it. This may sound negative but I was pleasantly surprised by this work, it was well-written narrative.

She starts from the formation of the islands (ecological history) and goes up to right after emancipation. All of the chapters are chocked full of source material that she makes GREAT use of. The focus on Abaco was the anchor for narrative was refreshing because many (myself included) tend to use Nassau/New Providence as the anchor. Riley does a lot of telling with no argument, though she does interrogate and interpret source material. She's not trying to prove anything. She's just telling a story.

She uses a lot of colonial office records and missionary accounts for source material, which in turn does hide POC voices. But she does highlight women in every chapter of her work, which is something no one else who does Bahamian history (so far that I have read, 10+ books) has done. She makes sure to hone in on women in every era of life. She even has an interesting incident of prostitution which to me is EXTREMELY intriguing because I have been thinking more and more about prostitution in the history of The Bahamas.

Rile does a great job on the foggy details from 1783-1796 that always seem to be swept up in the phrase 'The Loyalists hated the Conchs (older Bahamian inhabitants) and the Governors.' However she falls into the trap of those in Bahamian historiography that chose to compare slavery by pushing the narrative that Bahamian slavery was not 'that bad' as compared to other places. However over all I think she gives a great view on most historical events in Bahamian history.

Keith Tinker says Gateways to the New Word explores the impact of the social, political, economic, and religious development of The Bahamas and Bermuda on the developing Atlantic World (focused on the 17th and 18th century). However the book ends up focusing mostly on The Bahamas.

Tinker was inspired by Michael Jarvis' In the Eye of All Trade to fill the historiographical gaps that marginalize Bermuda and The Bahamas. He seeks to present another perspective on the role of The Bahamas and Bermuda in the general history of the Atlantic world.

The time period Tinker covers goes from before Columbus up to the present day, which makes the narrative become stretched thin. He does not do a balanced job of covering Bermuda and The Bahamas, instead most of his narrative base is anchored in The Bahamas, and how Bermuda impacts the islands. Bermuda is covered only up to the time of the golden age of piracy, and then in the last two chapters.

There is not enough primary source material used for the study. Tinker attempts to coast off of secondary sources, hoping that will provide enough for his study. It does not. However I think this issue is partly due to the wide timeline and topics he is trying to cover, if he had kept to only the 17th and 18th century and narrowed down the study it would have been better covered. In covering too much, some of the source material is not critically interrogated, instead some of the historical actors' POVs are taken at face value.

Overall the point of the book is missed in the body of it but I believe that the thesis should be studied and expanded more because both Bermuda and The Bahamas are marginalized places in the Atlantic.

A childhood classic that I listened to on audiobook. I love seeing Anne as a mother and hearing the children's thoughts and feelings. I recall loving this book more in my youth than I do now though.

This is one of the best short story collections I have ever read. Every story was so so good! They all fit and made sense in the grand scheme of the collection. The plot lines were diverse enough for me while staying on theme. I laughed, ALOT. I was mad. I shed a tear. Kuku has a wonderful writing voice that draws in readers and sucks them into the story, no matter how short. The different perspectives allow readers to enjoy the overarching cultural setting while seeing different class structures and societal issues. All of the POVs are distinct and each character has a dynamic personality; even the secondary characters were decently fleshed out, which is difficult to do in a short story collection. I could not put this book down, a quick read with a punch. I cannot wait to see what Damilare Kuku puts out next

Mindie Lazarus-Black is an anthropologist and her book, Everyday Harm: Domestic Violence, Court Rites, and Cultures of Reconciliation, which is set in Trinidad and Tobago, investigates the passage and implementation of domestic violence law. Lazarus-Black seeks to capture what the law can and cannot accomplish. She seeks to answer four questions with her study: why and when do lawmakers write new legislation to protect victims of domestic violence? Why does so little result in legislation? What can domestic violence law mean for women’s empowerment, gender equity and protection? And how do cultural norms and practices intercept the law so that violent actions become understandable to a judge?

When Everyday Harm was released in 2007, it built upon recent theoretical literature in anthropology and cross-cultural research on law and domestic violence. She analyzes law as an area for oppression, examining ways in which it engenders acts of domination while acknowledging that law offers a place for protest and protection. Her study is the first in-depth ethnographic investigation of domestic violence law in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Lazarus-Black’s study extends scholars' understanding of symbolic and pragmatic roles of law in post-colonial nations as new kinship and gender relationships are legislated. Reconceptualizing relationships between agency, structure, and time in court with obvious implications for how bureaucracies function more generally, is something Lazarus-Black does with her work. She develops a ‘court rites’ model with which she looks at two specific things: how intimidation, objectification, and humiliation is exercised by legal professionals, and how victims' voices are silenced and euphemisms are used to cover up abuse.

Everyday Harm was an interesting analysis into criminal law in the Caribbean; I was particularly fascinated with Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural of reconciliation, and how that played into domestic abuse.