The social affirmation of "woman" in selected texts by Buchi Emecheta and Alice Walker

The study focuses essentially on the social affirmation of "woman" in selected texts by Buchi Emecheta and Alice Walker. It is pointed out how in traditional Mrican patriarchal societies the relationships between male and female have always been determined by social mores put in place by men. By the same token, there has been a strong tradition in African literature that has only recently been really challenged that writing of both fiction and non-fiction is a male preserve. Inevitably then, in the writing of male authors, patriarchal assumptions about the role of men and women in society are immutably embedded. However, some women authors had, in the latter part of the twentieth century begun to challenge this male bastion. Their literature signals a shift to a new reality in African literature and a new emphasis - the emphasis on women presenting "woman" in literature dealing with women of Africa and women of African descent. Emecheta and Walker share a strong view that the portrayal of women should be rethought and foregrounded. Their literature can therefore be interpreted on one level as a plea for the more accurate and focused portrayal of women as having a rightful place in society. The problems experienced by women are portrayed by both of them with clarity, in accurate detail and with considerable empathy. Apart from dealing with the problems of women in traditional society, they highlight the way in which women's problems are exacerbated to a serious extent by their being tied to traditional bonds within the context of a Westernized or westernizing society. To a large extent women in the literature produced by these authors metamorphose into self-sufficient and more independent human beings who refuse to be simple social appendages of men and children. They explore with courage and clarity the extent to which men are stumbling blocks in the development of women. One could therefore conclude that, in the writing of these black women authors, the status of woman is shifted from being mere object (triply subjugated) to being independent, self-assertive subject. The female voice is thus privileged and given moral authority (even if at times the price is high). "RESISTANCE IS THE SECRET OF JOY!" [the banner] says in huge block letters. There is a roar as if the world cracked open and I flew inside. I am no more. And satisfied." (Tashi Evelyn Johnson Soul, in Possessing the secret of joy, by Alice Walker.)

Author dc:creator

• Semenya, Motlalekhumo Solomon

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Combrink, A.L.
• Wenzel, M.J.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10394/16297

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.nwu.ac.za:10394/16297