Open Access
RECONFIGURATION OF WOMEN IN THE AFRICAN NOVEL
4
Department of Arts & Social Sciences, Garissa University.
4
Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Garissa University, Fatha Abdirahman, Department of Arts & Social Sciences.
4
Department of Arts and Social Sciences, Garissa University, Garissa, Kenya
Abstract
The oppression of women has been a salient feature of societies across the globe. Consequently, there has been a continuous effort to write liberation literature to emancipate women from the yoke of patriarchal thought. This paper examines the gender politics articulated by selected authors. The novels have been identified to survey the plight of women in three geographical locations; East, West and South Africa. The aim of this research is to reveal that these writers (re)place the selected female characters in an attempt to subvert the historical conditions of women in African societies. The study reads Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s political women in Matigari (1987), Petals of Blood (1977), A Grain of Wheat (1967), Tsitsi Dangarembga’s women conditions in Nervous Conditions (1988), Mariama Bâ’s resolute Muslim woman in So Long a Letter (1986), and Ousmane Sembène’s bits of women in God’s Bits of Wood (1962). This study concludes that these texts succeed in reconfiguring the woman through subversive strategies.
Keywords
Gender,
Stereotype,
Subversion,
Patriarchy,
Politics,
Culture
References
Bâ, M. (1986). So Long a Letter. Ibadan: New Horn Press.
Baumeister, R. & Twenge, M. (2002). Cultural Suppression of Female Sexuality. Review of General Psychology, 6(2), pp. 166-203.
Camus, A. (1975). The Rebel (Trans. by Anthony Bower). Cleveland: World Publishing company.
Davies, C. B. (1986). “Maidens, Mistresses and Matrons: Feminine Images in Selected Soyinka Works.” In C. B. Davies and Anne Adams Graves (eds.). Ngambika: Studies of Women in African Literature, pp. 75-88. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press.
Eko, E. (1986). Changes in the Image of the African Woman: A celebration. Phylon, 47, pp. 210-218.
Erenrich, S. J. (2010). Rhythms of Rebellion: Artists Creating Dangerously For Social Change. Doctoral dissertation. Antioch University, California, USA.
Gadjigo, S, Faulkingham, R, Cassirer, T & Sander, R. (1993) Ousmane Sembène: Dialogues with Critics and Writers. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Inhadi, M. R. (2020). Women Portrayal in Contemporary American Fiction. Master’s thesis. Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia.
Mbah, B. M. & Mbah, E. E. (2017) “Marxism in Literary Criticism.” In B. M. Mbah (ed.). Theories of Contextual Linguistics. Awka: Amaka Dreams.
Mutunda, S. (2016). Portrayal of African women in Folklore: A Case study of proverbs among the Lunda in the Northwestern part of Zambia. International Journal of English Language, Literature, and Humanities, 4(2), pp. 508-527.
Khatib, M. S. (1985). “Utenzi wa Mwanakupona” in Mulika no. 17. Dar es Salaam: TUKI.
Ousmane, S. (1962). God's Bits of Wood. London: Heinemann.
Sartre, J. P. (1957). The Humanism of Existentialism. In C. G. Guignon & D. Pereboom. Existentialism Basic Writings, pp. 290-308. Indianapolis, IA: Hackett.
Scruton, E. (2017). Gendered insults in the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface. Bachelor’s dissertation. Yale University, New Haven, USA.
Sekhukhune, P. D. (1994). Gender Stereotypes. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand.
Sougou, O. (2010). Rethinking Androcentric Representations of Women in African Literature. Commonwealth Essays and Studies, 32(2), pp. 87-97.
Rodgers, R. J. (2013). Representations of Women, Identity and Education in the Novels of Tsitsi Dangarembga and Kopano Matlwa. Master’s thesis. Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Wa Thiong'o, N. (1981). Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: Heinemann.
Wa Thiong'o, N. (1987). Matigari. London. Heinemann.
Wa Thiong'o, N. (1977). Petals of Blood. London: Heinemann.
Wa Thiong'o, N. (1967). A Grain of Wheat. London: Heinemann.
Wilkinson, J. (1992). Talking with African Writers: Interviews with African Poets, Playwrights, and Novelists. London: James Currey.
Zwicker, H. (2002). “The Nervous Collusions of Nation and Gender: Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Challenge to Fanon.” In Willey, Ann E. and Treiber, Jeannette (eds.). Negotiating the Postcolonial: Emerging Perspectives on Tsitsi Dangarembga, pp. 3-24. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press.
How to Cite
RECONFIGURATION OF WOMEN IN THE AFRICAN NOVEL. (2024). Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(12), 14-24. https://doi.org/10.55640/gjhss/Volume03Issue12-03
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Alimova Mukhiba Muzaffarovna, Traditional Beliefs Of Turkic Peoples And Their Influence On The National Culture Of Uzbekistan , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 5 No. 02 (2026): Volume 05 Issue 02
- Dr. Youssef Abdelrahman, Dr. Layla Khaled, Informal Norms in Urban Public Space Governance: A Study of Cairo's Daily Dynamics , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 4 No. 07 (2025): Volume 04 Issue 07
Similar Articles
- Jagat Nepal, Tara Nath Ghimire, Dol Raj Kafle, CONTRIBUTION OF NEPAL TELEVISION TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF NEPALI POLITICS THROUGH LANGUAGE, ART, AND CULTURE , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 3 No. 11 (2024): Volume 03 Issue 11
- Alimova Mukhiba Muzaffarovna, Traditional Beliefs Of Turkic Peoples And Their Influence On The National Culture Of Uzbekistan , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 5 No. 02 (2026): Volume 05 Issue 02
- Michael Sembiring, THEMES IN MABA MANUK MBUR NARRATIVES OF KARONESE SOCIETY , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 3 No. 08 (2024): Volume 03 Issue 08
- Dr. Dol Raj Kafle, Dr. Tara Nath Ghimire, Tej Bahadur KC, Numismatic Insights: Unveiling the Historical and Cultural Significance of Lichchhavi Currency in Ancient Nepal , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 3 No. 08 (2024): Volume 03 Issue 08
- Sumanti Badami, MAHARASHTRIAN POSTGRADUATES' ATTITUDES TOWARDS DOWRY, DIVORCE, REMARRIAGE, AND SINGLEHOOD: A SOCIOCULTURAL ANALYSIS , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 3 No. 10 (2024): Volume 03 Issue 10
- Dr. Samuel K. Moyo, Perceptions Of Health Risk, Sexual Behaviour, And Behaviour Change Communication In Low- And Middle-Income Contexts: An Integrative Public Health Analysis , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 5 No. 01 (2026): Volume 05 Issue 01
- Sagatova Ziyodaxon Baxtiyarovna, The Role And Prospects Of Humanitarian Cooperation In The Development Of Cultural Diplomacy Between Uzbekistan And Turkey , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 5 No. 02 (2026): Volume 05 Issue 02
- Govinda Prasad Guragain, Tara Nath Ghimire, Dol Raj Kafle, Sabita Kumari Mallik, Comparative Analysis of Chinese and Western Grand Strategies in Global Power Politics , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 3 No. 06 (2024): Volume 03 Issue 06
- Mittali Joshi, NETFLIX AND YOUTH: A STUDY ON STREAMING POPULARITY , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 3 No. 07 (2024): Volume 03 Issue 07
- Dr. Yuki Nakamura, The Global Flow of Culture on Wikipedia: Quantitative Analysis of Cross-Cultural Interconnections , Global Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 4 No. 05 (2025): Volume 04 Issue 05
1-10 of 12
Next
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.