著者
額田 康子
出版者
大阪府立大学
巻号頁・発行日
2011

学位記番号:論人第9号, 指導教員:萩原弘子
著者
額田 康子
出版者
大阪府立大学大学院人間社会学研究科
雑誌
人間社会学研究集録 (ISSN:1880683X)
巻号頁・発行日
no.3, pp.57-79, 2008-02-29

This paper focuses on the controversy over female circumcision in colonial Kenya and develops a critique of the dualist arguments put forward by feminist theorists concerning this practice. In the late 1920s Protestant missionaries, mainly of the Church of Scotland Mission, banned their followers from practicing female circumcision. The ban provoked strong resistance among local people, especially the Gikuyu. The resulting conflict, known as the "female circumcision controversy," helped give rise to "Gikuyu cultural nationalism" and had a significant impact on the Gikuyu movement for independence, called "Mau Mau." While the causes of the Gikuyu resistance have been much analyzed, the intention and function of the ban, which was assumed to be for protection of women's health, have been little examined. By examining the contemporary discourse of several contestants in the controversy, including Dr. Arthur, a predominant missionary in colonial Kenya, I show that the ban can be positioned, in the historical context, as significant part of the colonial project.