"It's the Englishness" : Bildung and Personality Forming as Postcolonial Criticism in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions

Through a close reading of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, this essay shows the key links between the novel and Frantz Fanon’s major works. In addition to providing a deeper understanding of Dangarembga’s narrative as a whole, it takes into particular consideration the em­bedded criticism of colonialism in the text. The psychological conditions implied by the title play a central role: the essay shows how these conditions relate to the colonial situation and how refusing to consent to subjugation can be understood as radical criticism of colonial, Christian, as well as patriarchal superstructures as well as forming clear opposition to the colonial institution. The analysis is primarily based on Fanon and his comprehension of other theorists. It also draws on the ideas of Homi K. Bhabha, which will provide an additional level of understanding regarding questions about colonial identities in general, and Dangarembga’s characters Tambu, Nyasha, and Babamukuru in particular