Abstract
Female genital mutilation (FGM), a twenty-first century scourge, thrives on authority wielded by fathers, husbands and mothers-in-law. This chapter analyses four fictional chefs-oeuvres and one documentary that feature, account for, and, with nuance and diplomacy, disapprove the cut: esteemed prosecutor Linda Weil-Curiel’s fifteen-minute short film Bintou in Paris (1994); Uschi Madeisky’s ethnographic documentary Die Drei Wünsche der Sharifa. Bei den Kunama in Eritrea (2000); the first full-length film on FGM, Ousmane Sembène’s Moolaadé (2004); possibly the first play by a transgender Kenyan author on FGM, Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko’s WAAFRIKA 123 (2016), and prize-winning author Jeanie Kortum’s novel Stones (2017). In all works, social consensus authorizes genital ablation where a specific conservative demographic is convinced that fracturing tradition will entail disaster. What emerges as primary author of the custom is fear instilled by deeply held beliefs whose grip may be loosened only by a reframed cultural narrative.
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Notes
- 1.
See Walker and Parmar, Warrior Marks, 323.
- 2.
Levin , “Creative Writing of FGM,” 111–12.
- 3.
Quoted from Thiam , La Parole aux Négresses, in Walker and Parmar, Warrior Marks.
- 4.
Levin, “Solidarische Rassistinnen,” 63.
- 5.
El Guindi, “Had This Been Your Face.”
- 6.
Levin, “Creative,” 112.
- 7.
After slicing off the labia minora and often, though not always, the visible part of the clitoris, the remaining labia majora are infibulated, that is, stitched or otherwise made to adhere so that, on healing, a tiny opening for urine and menses remains. See Abdi , “Watering the Dunes with Tears.” Nura Abdi endured infibulation.
- 8.
Kuring , “Female Genital Mutilation in Eritrea.”
- 9.
Source Memory Net, “Andinnas of the Kunama.”
- 10.
Dashu , “Sociopolitical Aspects of the Andinnas.”
- 11.
Source Memory Net, “Andinnas of the Kunama.”
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
“Die alten mächtigen Frauen jedoch mahnen, daß eine unbeschnittene Frau aus der Stammesgemeinschaft ausgestoßen wird, nicht erben kann und nicht im Familiengrab beigesetzt wird. Vor allen Dingen drohen sie mit dem Geist der Ahnen, denn der kann schrecklich sein und Unheil über ganze Familien bringen.” Back Cover, Die drei Wünsche der Sharifa, DVD. Translation is mine.
- 16.
Bishop , “Oppositional Approaches.”
- 17.
Fyle et al., “#End FGM Animations.”
- 18.
Rodriguez , “WAAFRIKA 123.”
- 19.
Mwaluko , WAAFRIKA. Back cover description.
- 20.
“WAAFRIKA 123 featured artist Dua Saleh.”
- 21.
See Jones , Back cover endorsement. WAAFRIKA. 123.
- 22.
Gates , Back cover endorsement. Stones.
- 23.
In many private conversations over chicken potpies, the late Dr. Barbara Harrell-Bond OBE insisted on the link between FGM and fertility. She was an expert on excision in Sierra Leone.
- 24.
Kortum , Stones, 324–25.
- 25.
Ibid., 324.
References
Filmography
Bintou in Paris. 1994. Video Cassette. Directed by Kirsten Johnson, Julia Pimsleur and Linda Weil-Curiel. Paris: CAMS, Commission for the Abolition of Sexual Mutilations.
Die Drei Wünsche der Sharifa. Bei den Kunama in Eritrea. 2000. DVD. Directed by Klaus Werner and Uschi Madeisky. Frankfurt am Main: Colorama Film- and TV Produktion.
Fyle, Janet, Isolde Godfrey, Jess Harvey, Holly Willmott. #End FGM Animations. Woven Ink. https://www.wovenink.co.uk/endfgm-animations/. Accessed 17 November 2018.
Moolaadé. 2004. DVD. Directed by Ousmane Sembène. London: Curzon Artificial Eye, Distributor.
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Bishop, Stephen. 2009. Oppositional Approaches to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in African Literature. In Empathy and Rage. Female Genital Mutilation in African Literature, ed. Tobe Levin and Augustine Asaah, 38–51. Oxfordshire: Ayebia.
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von Gleichen, T.L. (2020). Female Genital Mutilation: Authority, Fact and Fiction. In: Bardazzi, A., Bazzoni, A. (eds) Gender and Authority across Disciplines, Space and Time. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45160-8_13
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