TRANSGRESSING SILENCE: FEMALE AGENCY AND THE POLITICS OF THE UNSPEAKABLE IN OUSMANE SEMBÈNE’S WHITE GENESIS

Abstract

Ousmane Sembène’s White Genesis interrogates the intersections of religion, morality, and gender within a West African Muslim community. Centred on a forbidden taboo that is strategically obscured by communal silence, the novella reveals how patriarchal and religious structures suppress women’s voices while masking deeper moral ruptures. This article analyses how Sembène reconfigures female silence as a form of resistance rather than a marker of submission. Drawing on postcolonial theory and Islamic feminist criticism, it argues that the figure of the “Other” woman traditionally burdened with shame and exclusion, emerges as a moral witness whose presence unsettles the authority of male-dominated institutions. By transforming silence into a medium of ethical intervention, White Genesis advances an African feminist vision rooted in moral accountability, communal responsibility and a redefinition of voice that exceeds the limits of spoken expression.