The portrayal of women in most African male-authored novels which appeared before and after the independences, frustrated many African female intellectuals. The latter considered that some African men writers have not presented a fair image of women in their writings. For them, they have marginalised and relegated women to second-class citizens. Thus, these female intellectuals set out in their turn to write literary texts in which they correct what they considered to be shortcomings in African male writings. Among these women writers stands out Flora Nwapa who deals in One is Enough (1981) with issues such as gender, sexuality, tradition, postcolonialism, modernity, culture, sociology, psychology and materialism in Nigerian society in particular and African societies in general. Leaning on African feminism, postcolonialism, sociology and psychology as theories, this article analyses female self-fulfilment and self-affirmation in One is Enough. In this perspective, the paper zeroes in on the awareness-raising about women’s right to defend their opinion and physical integrity. It also sheds light on the possibility for women to find fulfilment outside marriage.
By the mid-nineteenth century up to 1910, stories of a love affair between a European colonial and a native woman were missing in European settler writing. The point is that these stories were not allowed any more. The reasons for which they were no longer allowed and the way the European imperialists and the colonized people viewed these interracial romances were among the things which motivated Abdulrazak Gurnah to write Desertion (2005). In this novel, he explores the love relationship between a British colonial, Martin Pearce, and a Zanzibari woman, Rehana Zakariya, and how this affair was determinant in the failure of Amin and Jamila’s romance. One may wonder whether Rehana’s bad reputation is simply due to the fact that she was in love with a European man. One may also wonder whether Jamila’s tarnished name is only caused by the fact that she is Rehana’s granddaughter. From a cultural and postcolonial perspective, the paper will deal with Woman’s Virtue in Gurnah’s Desertion. Based on postcolonialism, racism and culture as theories, the study will analyze, on the one hand, the way the two main female protagonists in Desertion are viewed in their community and, on the other hand, the sad end of the love relationship between Amin and Jamila.
The Biafra War has been the subject of many historical accounts and literary texts. Among the novels produced about the Biafra War is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) where the author recounts not only the events leading to the war but also those during and just after the conflict. Though the events of the Biafra War constitute the central theme in Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie also deals with the relationships among social classes in this novel. One may wonder why the author shows that some upper-class people are keen on their difference, their ‘superiority’, and, on the other hand, people of the upper and middle classes are human and respectful towards lower-class persons. What is the purpose of the writer in drawing this parallel? From a socialist and humanist perspective, this article deals with “bridging the gap among social classes in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.” Based on sociology, psychology, socialism, and humanism, the paper will first deal with the criticism of the Nigerian upper class and then with Adichie’s advocacy for a socialist and humanist society.
African politicians and writers were together in the fight for the sovereignty of their countries but soon after the independences, they parted. The point is that African politicians, who took over from the colonizers, disappointed their people by their governing system which was characterized by power abuse, corruption, dictatorship, ignorance of their populations' expectations, injustice and immorality among other vices. Instead of really serving the masses, the new rulers were serving themselves. Thus, many novels appeared in the sixties and the seventies in which African writers criticized the disappointing behaviour of postcolonial African political leaders. One of these novels is Es'kia Mphahlele 's Chirundu (1979) where the author also denounces colonial rule. From a postcolonialist perspective, the paper explores power corruption in Mphahlele's Chirundu. Based on postcolonialism, racism, sociology and culture as theories, the study will analyze on the one hand the denunciation of colonial rule and on the other hand the disappointing behaviour of African postcolonial rulers and its causes.
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