After exploring the stories of Nísia Floresta, Sophia de Mello and Alda Lara, we close the theme of the month “Portuguese Language Femele Writers” with the story of Paulina Chiziane .
A pioneer in Mozambican literature written by women, she used writing to explore the complexities of female life, including issues of monogamy and polygamy in Mozambican culture, challenging strong social and cultural taboos. Come and learn this story!
Born in 1955, in Manjacaze, Paulina grew up in colonial Mozambique. From an early age, she was confronted with discrepancies between genres, a reality that would profoundly influence her writing.
Despite the restrictions imposed on women in her society, Paulina was encouraged by her parents to pursue her studies, a decision that would shape her future and her literary voice.
Before becoming a writer, Paulina Chiziane studied linguistics at Eduardo Mondlane University, in Maputo, where she began to question dominant narratives about the role of women in Mozambican society.
Her academic and personal experience, living in a newly independent country, struggling with the legacies of colonialism and the promises of a post-colonial future, forged her critical outlook on issues of gender and ethnicity.
The publication of her first novel, "Balada de Amor ao Vento" (1990), marked a significant turning point. She was the first Mozambican woman to publish a novel , breaking barriers in a field dominated by men. In it he openly addressed cultural practices, such as lobolo (dowry), and polygamy, from a critical and feminine perspective.
Because of this, and throughout her career, she encountered many challenges and a lack of recognition within her country. “Unfortunately, in newly independent countries, literature is not a space of freedom. I want the freedom to be able to show society the positive and negative side of things and I don’t write to please anyone.”
When asked how she felt about being the first woman, she replied that she didn't even realize it. And she quoted the phrase “those who run because they like it don't get tired” revealing that she was just telling a story that she liked. She also states that being the first is not something that changes her, but that she is happy to know that she was a pioneer of something.
“For me, men and women are like right foot and left foot. For an organism to function it has to have balance on both feet.”
She has sometimes stated that she does not like being called a novelist, but rather a storyteller, as she has never sought to follow any formal and academic structure in her writing and prefers to use many oral resources, typical of her origins. Which denotes a unique character and identity in her writing.
After announcing, in 2016, that she would stop writing, after 26 years of many struggles, she was awarded the Camões Prize in 2021.
In her speech, a very important point of view stands out: the decolonization of the Portuguese language. She states that she heard:
“Your writings are not really in the Portuguese language, because you have to write well, in the Portuguese language, but I thought I should show who I am, negotiating my identity, as a woman, as a black woman, as an African through the Portuguese language ”.
To close, I leave here the message that the writer left, when asked to say something to women who intended to become writers.
“It's not exactly a recommendation (...), I just want to leave one point of view. I think that the imbalance in the world happens precisely because women's voices are missing in the book.(...) In a so-called sacred book, this is where the first major declaration of imbalance appears (referring to Eve and the guilt she carries from original sin). My question is where were the women when that was written? If they were present, would the text be like this? Therefore, the imbalance of the great universal philosophies happens because women were not present when the great works were written.”