Images of Women as Projected in African English Fiction

Abstract

Men and women are created from a single soul and are meant to be alike and live in love and peace. The female and male are complementary to one other. Together, they make a single self and this is how they must strive to live in communion. Without woman man would not be able to form a family and would not have the comfort of having someone by his side. However, at various times throughout history, women who have diverged from the patriarchal prescribed roles (as wife and mother...etc.) were viewed as immoral and unfeminine objects of pity. Nevertheless, women are not merely females but human beings who entertain their own hopes, ambitions, and dreams that cannot be defined only by men. Through their writings women have voiced their opinions to achieve their set goals. As a result, the nature, role, position and status of women in society have become issues of debate and discussion, in spite of the influence of religion, tradition and culture. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the status and roles of African women from pre-colonial to post colonial times through the lenses of literary narrative. The critical review of the existing literature on African fiction shows that nowhere has the question of images of African women as projected in African fiction been raised and properly discussed in fiction before. This is the lacuna that this study seeks to address for the first time, along with an attempt to draw out the distinctive features of female characters in African fiction. The research has adopted the descriptive method, and the necessary data have been collected from different primary sources, including selected novels by eight African writers; four males and four females. The socio-feminist approach has been followed. In addition, a number of critical and theoretical appraisals of African literature in general, and African women portrayal in particular have been used as secondary sources. African social feminism as a method of criticism has been found as the most suitable way of investigating female characters in African fiction and African feminism is not what Western feminism is. Furthermore, the distinctive features of female characters in African English fiction testify that women characters are merely related to their biological roles as men's mates. To view female characters in their biological roles in relation to men is to overlook the fact that they are human beings. What generally makes human beings, including women, different from other living creatures is not biology; rather, it is the mind, for the uniqueness of a human being lies in the faculty of thinking, through which worldview is formed, analyzed, and planned. However, there are two new characteristic features of female characters; there are the educated and the strong-willed women. These two qualities cannot be related to the biological nature of women. It has also been found out that African male writers can be grouped into two schools of thoughts. The first includes Chinua Achebe, Camara Laye and their likes. They have been influenced by patriarchal ideologies and hence their female characters are not given dynamic roles. The second includes Ngugi, Tayeb Salih and others who are inclined to project their female characters seriously. Another finding is that African women writers, including Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta, Bessie Head, and Mariama Ba have attempted to bridge the gap that was created by early patriarchal ideologies. In their novels, they have increasingly privileged female characters by allowing them to participate in the society's activities, in spite of the dominating patriarchal systems, which has helped in bringing about a cultural and social revolution that may lead African women to ultimate emancipation, and grant them freedom from social bondages and unfair traditional biases. The research consists of five chapters. Chapter one is introduction. Chapter two is of two parts: part one, which is theoretical framework, explores and authenticates a set of broad ideas and theories that form the theoretical framework of the study by investigating African women's movements and their impact on the images of women in fiction. The part also explores African Muslim feminists whose works are included in the selected novels. Part two is the literature review which critically reviews some literature relevant to the study. It attempts to survey the writings about African women in terms of their roles in pre-colonial, colonial, and post colonial times in social life and in fiction. Since fiction does not occur in a vacuum and is shaped by political, social, cultural, and economic factors, the literature review has been carried out accordingly. In addition, male and female writers' works are reviewed. Chapter Three is research methodology. Chapter four is data analysis result and discussion and it consists of three parts. Part one gives an account of and, in depth, analyzes the image of women in male writers' works, including Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and A Man of the People, and Camara Laye's The African Child and Radiance of the King, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o' Petals of Blood and Devil on the Cross and Tayeb Salih's Wedding of Zein and Season of Migration to the North. Part two is devoted to the images of African women in female writers' novels. It includes Flora Nwapa's Efuru and One is Enough, Buchi Emecheta's Second-Class Citizen and The Joys of Motherhood, Bessie Head's When Rain Clouds Gather and The Collector of Treasures and Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter and Scarlet Song. Part three deals the distinctive characteristic features of female characters in both male and female writers' works. The thesis closes with chapter five which is summary, findings, recommendation and suggestions for further research.