Adichie’s Commitment to Female Biological Experiences in African Literature

Abstract

Molara Ogundipe-Leslie (1987) challenged African women writers to be committed about women and their biological experiences in wife repudiation and widowhood in her article entitled “The Female Writer and Her Commitment”. In view of this challenge, this article examined Adichie’s portrayal of female biological experiences in Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, the short story entitled Imitation and The Visit. The theoretical framework used in this article is African Feminism. It is established that in Purple Hibiscus, adolescent sexuality is expressed within the ambience of Igbo socialization in which sexual matters are discrete and respected. The expression of female sexuality in Half of a Yellow Sun is audacious, portraying cohabitation which has no merit in Igbo culture in spite of the ravaging civil war setting. The representation of sexual expression in Americanah through the adolescent peering between Ifemelu and Obinze is too detailed for the emotional health of the Igbo adolescent because it disrupted a legal family. Imitation and The Visit negotiated the African family so that the husband and the wife will complement each other while female sexuality is not compromised. It could be concluded that through her prose fictions, Adichie has responded adequately to Molara Ogundipe- Leslie’s challenge to African female writers. Finally, this article recommends that woman’s biological experiences should be fundamental and respected in romantic and family love relationships.