@article{ART003397059},
author={OH Jung-Sook},
title={From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes},
journal={Cross-Cultural Studies},
issn={1598-0685},
year={2026},
volume={79},
pages={201-232}
TY - JOUR
AU - OH Jung-Sook
TI - From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes
JO - Cross-Cultural Studies
PY - 2026
VL - 79
IS - null
PB - Center for Cross Culture Studies
SP - 201
EP - 232
SN - 1598-0685
AB - This study examines Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes (2020), focusing on munyal—the injunction of patience imposed on women in the Sahel—and on the diverse female voices that emerge in response to it. In the novel, munyal functions as a gendered norm that demands submission, silence, and sacrifice while legitimizing early and forced marriage, marital rape, and polygamy. Yet Amal does not portray her three protagonists, Ramla, Hindou, and Safira, simply as victims of the same oppression. Ramla asserts her self-determination by escaping a forced marriage. Hindou gives voice to her pain and anger amid the psychological breakdown and madness caused by relentless violence. Safira internalizes and reproduces patriarchal norms while also exposing the fissures within them. The novel’s polyphony, therefore, lies not simply in the presence of three first-person narrators. Rather, it emerges from the different ways in which the women experience and reinterpret munyal, and thereby disrupts the monologic authority of patriarchal discourse. The change in the novel’s title from Munyal, les larmes de la patience to Les Impatientes thus marks a shift from the singular injunction of patience to the plurality of women who refuse to endure it. By transforming the experiences of silenced women into public discourse, Amal’s writing demonstrates literature’s potential to reclaim female subjectivity and promote social change.
KW - Djaïli Amadou Amal;Les Impatientes;munyal;polyphony;female subjectivity;women in the Sahel
DO -
UR -
ER -
OH Jung-Sook. (2026). From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes. Cross-Cultural Studies, 79, 201-232.
OH Jung-Sook. 2026, "From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes", Cross-Cultural Studies, vol.79, pp.201-232.
OH Jung-Sook "From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes" Cross-Cultural Studies 79 pp.201-232 (2026) : 201.
OH Jung-Sook. From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes. 2026; 79 201-232.
OH Jung-Sook. "From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes" Cross-Cultural Studies 79(2026) : 201-232.
OH Jung-Sook. From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes. Cross-Cultural Studies, 79, 201-232.
OH Jung-Sook. From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes. Cross-Cultural Studies. 2026; 79 201-232.
OH Jung-Sook. From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes. 2026; 79 201-232.
OH Jung-Sook. "From the Injunction of Patience to the Voices of Impatience: Polyphonic Female Subjectivity in Djaïli Amadou Amal’s Les Impatientes" Cross-Cultural Studies 79(2026) : 201-232.
