Abstract:
This paper examined the possibility of redefining and reconfiguring gender roles
and cultural practices for sustainable development. Any venture in the
realization of sustainable development for 21st century calls for a repositioning of
some age-old traditional practices for a better society. Thus societal needs in the
contemporary world require active participation of both genders to lay a solid
foundation for any development to flourish. The paper points out that the
inability of most societies to have gender inclusive structures and a bias of
cultural biases work against the realization of sustainable development. Most
societies across the globe such as India, Afghanistans, Iranians, and Africans
grapple with the question of gender inclusivity embedded and camouflaged in
the cultural practices. As a result, structures that entrench inequity and inequality
become stumbling blocks to realization of development in the society since age
old traditional and cultural practices have a direct influence on the worldview
and behaviour of people. This paper pays attention to Ole Kulet’sBlossoms of the
savannah and how it advances the need to address gender and traditional
practices as issues that need to be addressed in order to achieve development.
The question that arises is: how possible can literary texts address issues
pertinent to sustainable development and how can gender inclusivity propel the
realization of development in society? Answers to these questions form part of
analysis in this paper.
