Religion, Trauma and the Index of ‘Madness’ in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile

Abstract

In Africa, there are many societal factors that tend to enfeeble the woman. The text God Dies bythe Nile projects religion as one such factor that is used to weaken the psychological universe ofthe female gender, for whereas the man is the overlord who receives the divine mandate anddeviously interprets it to suit his whims and purposes, the woman conferred an inferiority statusis conned into passive obedience. This paper, therefore, exploring the trauma and post-colonialtheories interrogates the nexus between religion as a debilitating societal construct and theattendant psychological injury that often results in creating mental incontinence for the woman.The paper concludes that religion should be more liberal and ‘wear a human face’ in advancingits practices in order not to push one beyond the edges.