Female Bildungsroman in the Narrative of African Women Writers

This paper addresses the ‘Bildungsroman’ genre in African postcolonial narratives. It mainly focuses on African women writers’ literary works and, specifically, aims to shed light on how they blend female subjugation with an unknown genre in the narrative of female characterization and autobiographies. The study also evidences that, even though, the term ‘Bildungsroman’ is German in origin, i.e., ‘bildung’, which means apprenticeship, self-cultivation, formation, etc; and the word ‘roman’ which means novel, the concept is fully adapted and adopted in African male and female writers’ literary discourses. Thus the paper seeks to demonstrate that colonization in Africa has had intellectual impacts on modern African literature, as the pioneers of contemporary African literature have used foreign languages to write back, claim cultural retrieval, independence and represent their own experience through their own perspective and narrative in the midst of their protagonists’ psychological and physical transformation.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 0F AFRICANA WOMEN’S CONCEPTIONS OF MARRIAGE IN AMA ATA AIDOO’S CHANGES: A LOVE STORY. (1991).

Contemporary African women writers shift from a “deconstruction” project to a larger “reconstruction” of the society through modern females’ life and experiences. Wilson-Tag asserts that African women’s writings are marked by gender perspectives that are mediated by history, culture and class (Wilson-tagoe: 1997:14). This article depicts the African women, with western education, who exercise a measure of authority over their bodies in their marriages. Feminists’ theories inherited from western countries and women’s financial independence are the causes of most marriages failure.

“The Joys of Motherhood” of an African Woman: A Mirage

Quest for identity is one phenomenon of postcolonialism that led way for the emergence of Women writers portraying the indigenous women of their society who were denied the authorial voice in the male-dominated society. Africa African woman literature has always been discussed elaborately not only among ‘White’ but also among fellow African women writers and critics across the globe. Emecheta was one such writer whose work has been criticized for writing after settled in the western country, UK (the colonizer). The readers from third world nations may agree with Emecheta’s call for the necessity to redefine Women’s identity under the African identity. Buchi Emecheta to that reverence has always through her strong woman characters never failed to express the state of the African women and their limitations in social life. Emecheta has always recorded her protagonists' struggle for equality in a male-dominated society. Through the study of her novel The Joys of Motherhood, an attempt is made to explore her perception of Motherhood and explain how she portrays it to the African context where traditions and communal ties are deeply rooted in the Nigerian Ibo society.

Transmutation and Temporality: Shifting Figures of African Women in Jennifer Makumbi’s Historical Novel Kintu (2014)

The role of African women writers in employing the unique style of presenting several generations of women characters in the same historical novel to narrate how the world of women has been transformed across time cannot be naysaid. Through this style, female authors have been able to re-examine, re-construct, re-structure and re-invent the (mis)representation of female gender as construed by male authors who were the first to acquire formal education and embark in creative writing. Thus the choice of this distinctive style often serves as an important marker of backdating the true depiction of women across the historical trajectory as well as demonstrating the gainful transmutation that women have gone through towards their liberation from the chains of patriarchy. Among the African women writers who have adopted this style is Jeniffer Makumbi the author of Kintu. Grounded in both New historicist and feminist theoretical frameworks, we interrogate how women have gradually and gainfully changed towards liberation across the four epochs specific to Africa; namely: Pre-colonial, Colonial, postcolonial and contemporary. Using purposively selected Jenniffer Makumbi’s novel – Kintu – the article provides a textual analysis of the behaviours, speeches and actions exhibited by different generations of female characters who fall within the aforementioned epochs to demonstrate their historical transmutation towards liberation.

African Feminisms: Paradigms, Problems and Prospects

African feminisms comprise the differing brands of equalist theories and efforts geared towards enhancing the condition of woman. However, the meaning and application of the word ‘feminism’ poses several problems for African women writers and critics many of whom distance themselves from the movement. Their indifference stems from the anti-men/anti-religion status accorded feminism in recent times. Thus, several women writers have sought to re-theorize feminism in a manner that fittingly captures their socio-cultural beliefs, leading to multiple feminisms in African literature. This study critically analyzes the mainstream theories of feminisms in Africa with a view to unravelling the contradictions inherent in the ongoing efforts at conceptualizing African feminisms. The paper further argues for workable ways of practicing African feminisms to serve practical benefits for African man and woman, and to also function as an appropriate tool for assessing works by literary writers in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.