Literacy of Exclusion

In Mandi Chikombero's "Dysfunctional Literacies of Exclusion: An Exploration of the Burdens of Literacy in Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions" she discusses "some of the ways in which the book makes significant contributions to the understanding of Black women's literacy" (148). She tells readers that literacy is a hard thing to define, she tells us to be "black, female, and literate means different things in different context" (148).

Black women have been taught to keep silent. Our struggles have been hidden and kept a secret. Black female authors such as Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou have helped exploit these stories to the public. Two types of literacy are addressed in this chapter, traditional literacy and colonial literacy.

“Traditional literacy refers to all aspects of sociocultural literacies” (151). Oral traditions such as: myths, legends, folktales, songs, and dance are all important parts of traditional literacy. In traditional literacy, women are at the center of reproduction and agricultural production.

Colonial literacy is the act of learning and educating one’s self. It breaks away from traditional literacy and old traditions.

Traditional literacy is how African Americans educated themselves before colonial literacies. Before African Americans were accepted into a learning institute, they learned from their ancestor’s stories and tales.