The Sex of Omission: Obscured Feminism in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People

Abstract

Omissions are not accidents.-Marianne Moore (1981) Any commentary must take off from what is silent in the text, what has knowingly or inadvertently been left unsaid.-Edmond Jabès (1991) INTRODUCTION: REPRESENTING WOMEN This article refutes the common assertion that Chinua Achebe does not represent women as active participants in his portrayed communities until in his fifth novel, Anthills of the Savannah (1987). 1 To rethink such claims, I draw attention to the manner in which A Man of the People (1966) foregrounds a taxonomy of women contesting multiple forms of subordination. Achebe's novel engages with women's subordination in reverse: it demonstrates a preoccupation with leadership cultures that sprang up in response to

Self-possession and the crisis of the post-colony in Achebe’s A Man of the People

“…Most times he did what he deemed best. Always she had no choice but to obey” (2017: 172). In essential ways Neni is a self-possessed woman, but Jende still believes in his practical possession of her while Neni does not have the cultural leverage to resist this assumption.…”

“… 1. The present study focuses on several of A Man of the People ’s more prominent female characters, but the novel depicts other women who perform significant functions within a relatively narrow fictional compass. See Chioma Opara (2015) and Taiwo Osinubi (2017). Osinubi concludes his article with the assertion that this novel “and not Anthills of the Savannah as is commonly assumed, provides Achebe’s sustained attention to the representation of women in African fiction” (2017: 112). …”

“…See Chioma Opara (2015) and Taiwo Osinubi (2017). Osinubi concludes his article with the assertion that this novel “and not Anthills of the Savannah as is commonly assumed, provides Achebe’s sustained attention to the representation of women in African fiction” (2017: 112).…”

“… 12. Regarding Nanga’s encounter with Elsie, Osinubi notes that “were the sexual tryst focalized through Elsie, it would become clear that she seduces Odili and Chief Nanga” (2017: 100). …”