Author: Jane Kani Edward

Publisher: Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 9780612945142

My thesis examines how southern Sudanese women refugees understand the social, cultural, economic and political transformations that have affected their lives in exile. It intends to show how these women use their experiences to re-evaluate their past and to challenge the image of women refugees as victims and dependents in refugee literature. The assumption I make hear is that, the situation of African women refugees has been analyzed from the varied perspectives that tend to universalize and victimize the refugees. This thesis argues against the universalized, victimized and dependent image of African women refugees by invoking African women's power, agency and their differences. My findings suggest that life in exile has both negative and positive consequences on refugee lives. Due to war and displacement, the social and cultural traditions of those affected are disrupted, leading to changes in behavior, perceptions and lifestyles. Economic difficulties and resettlement program to a third country have led to increase in cases of separation and divorce and have further forced many refugees to alcoholism and prostitution. Although displacement and life in exile disrupt the normal life of those affected, life in exile can be of benefit to refugees. My interviews indicate that life in Cairo allowed women to re-evaluate their perceptions, which in turn necessitated a shift in gender roles, whereby women adopted new social and economic roles contrary to those, which existed in Sudan. Their status of being bread winners, challenge, both the dependent image of a woman refugee and the long-held belief among southern Sudanese that women are always dependent on men economically. Women's new roles also challenge the public-private distinction, rendering it insignificant. It further rendered their representation as victims and dependents in the refugee literature unacceptable. A discursive framework of the interlocking and the intersecting systems of oppression and the idea of the 'simultaneity' of oppression is used in order to capture the complexities of the everyday experiences of the refugees. The underlying assumption in this framework is, the refusal to either address one form of oppression while leaving the others intact or to hierarchize oppressions.