A Polemic of Mannerpunk in the Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero (Published)
Literature has been a work of imagination with little attention paid to Mannerpunk as a sub-genre in prose fiction that suggests status, conversation, ethics, aesthetics and adherence to moral standards that are otherwise known as etiquette or principle of decorum which are the set rules for any society to live peacefully which Africans are inclusive, loving to live life devoid of dystopia. Previous scholarly interests in Nawal El-Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero have viewed the novel from the prism of different variants of feminism, ranging from pure feminism, womanism, and radical African feminism. Therefore, this paper views it as mannerpunk or as a novel that challenges lack of manners and standards in the family and society in Africa with the aim to correcting people to live their life with little or less problems. This paper benefits from psychoanalysis theory of Sigmund Freud explored by Stephane Michaud, and Mambrol Nasrullah who posit that the actions of man are controlled by id, ego, superego and defense mechanism. Hence, this paper considered Nawal El- Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero, discussing the plight of Firdraus, the protagonist and El-Saadawi as an author-narrator. It re-defines manner, and discusses lack of manners in the family and among the religious leaders such as Firdaus’ uncle who always have sex with his niece, Firdaus. This paper suggests solutions that Africans should charge themselves reminding African society the core Africans’ wits and standards for family, society, and Africans to live peacefully.
Keywords: El-Saadawi, Firdaus, Mannerpunk, Sigmund Freud, Woman at Point Zero