This paper examines how John Ruganda represents the intersection between religion and masculinities in his play, The Burdens (1972), which imagines an ex-Catholic nun marrying and bringing up a family. It argues that literary texts are an important avenue through which the intersection between religion and gender can be explored, leading to a rich harvest of nuanced insights. Data is collected through a close reading of the play under analysis, within the socio-political context in which it was written and produced, that is, the politically turbulent decade following Uganda's flag independence in 1962, characterised-among others-by events like the abolition of kingdoms by the Prime Minister, Milton Obote, and his ouster in a military coup by his army commander, General Idi Amin, on 25 January, 1971. The analysis of the text is guided by insights drawn from selected scholars of masculinities featured in Helen Nabasuta Mugambi and Tuzyline Jita Allan's edited volume, entitled Masculinities in African and Cultural Texts (2010).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.