Effects of the extended family in dangarembga’s nervous conditions

This study explored the representation of the effects of the extended family syndrome in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. Its specific objective was to explore how the novel represents the negative as well as the positive effects of the extended family through characterization. Primarily using textual analysis guided by the sociological approach. The study examined how the negative and positive effects of the extended family are revealed through both female and male characters. To accomplish its research objectives, the study was guided by two questions: a primary and a specific question.The primary question was: How does Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions depict the effects of the phenomenon of the extended family? And the specific question was: To what extent are characters in the novel, as individual members of a given society, are negatively as well as positively affected by the extended family syndrome? The study established that by underscoring both the negative and positive effects, Nervous Conditions exposes what is good and what is bad within the extended family, particularly as influenced by patriarchy and colonialism. The novel appears to suggest a reform of extended family to retain what is good for the benefit of both females and males. Finally, the study recommends a comparative study on Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions and Yvonne Vera’s Under the Tongue to examine how the two novels represent the family.