ABSTRACT
In The Orchard of Lost Souls, Nadifa Mohamed joins the chorus of contemporary Eastern Africa female writers who are returning to sites of war and armed conflict. This is her feminist account of conflict in the Somali region and it encourages us to reflect on the diverse roles women and children play during wartime. Typically war narratives tend to chronicle the conquests of male soldiers. Mohamed’s depiction of a female soldier debunks the myth that war is completely a male affair. By offering a reading which undermines dominant narratives and perceptions on war, the novel suggests that the battleground is not solely a masculinised terrain. In this chapter, I argue that in modern African wars women are not only always victims but also combatants deeply involved in active combat. Sometimes they act as custodians and guardians of the nation-state, but they also commit violent acts, gross human rights violations and state-sanctioned terror to maintain control over civilian populations.
