Portrayal of domestic violence in selected Ugandan short stories

Abstract

This study explores the portrayal of domestic violence in selected Ugandan short stories, a genre that, despite its frequent engagement with the theme, remains significantly under-explored compared to novels, poetry, and drama. Its brevity, intensity, and episodic structure allow short stories to capture sudden eruptions of violence, daily humiliations, and fleeting moments of resistance with an immediacy that longer forms cannot replicate. The study defines domestic violence as a pattern of harmful and controlling behaviour, including physical, sexual, financial/economic, and emotional/psychological harm. It highlights the recurrence of the theme in short fiction, arguing for its importance in reflecting Uganda’s socio-cultural struggles. It analyzes six short stories: Doreen Baingana’s “Green Stones” and “Hunger” (Tropical Fish, 2005); Austin Ejiet’s “Aida” and “Meat for Breakfast” (Aida, Hurray for Somo and Other Stories, 2005); and Jennifer Makumbi’s “Manchester Happened” and “Let’s Tell This Story Properly” (Manchester Happened, 2019). The study explores the types of domestic violence portrayed, analyses the authors’ stylistic choices, and examines social, cultural, and economic factors contributing to abuse in the depicted society. The analysis is guided by the feminist theory, particularly Simone de Beauvoir’s notion of woman as the “Other,” constructed as secondary and subordinate to man, to interpret Ejiet’s portrayal of gender relations. Through this lens, Aida’s experiences reveal how her marginalisation is not incidental but symptomatic of the broader, structural oppression produced by patriarchal systems. Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde’s concept of intersectionality informs the analysis of Makumbi’s stories, which portray women with agency amid migration and cultural displacement. Kate Millett’s Sexual Politics provides insight into Baingana’s depiction of women’s subjugation through traditional genderroles, especially in Christine’s mother’s experience. The study advocates greater academicfocus on Ugandan short stories as critical to understanding gender-based violence. It calls for their inclusion in literary discourse and urges policy interventions that address the cultural andeconomic roots of domestic abuse represented in literature.