Africana Womanist Perspectives in the Selected Works of African Women Novelists/Writers

Abstract

The issue of women subjugation in the social, cultural, political and economic space has been and still is a very active debate. Flora Nwapa in her novel Efuru, stresses on the dichotomies of marital subjugation. Ama Ata Aidoo, Buchi Emecheta and Ama Darko in their respective novels, Changes, Second Class Citizen and Beyond the Horizon, respectively, present these very challenges of women in marriages and the professional/work space. As such this paper takes a look at the subjugation of women in marriages and professional/work space, using the already mentioned writers and their respective novels. The discussion will be done against the backdrop of Clenora Hudson-Weems theory of Africana Womanism where she highlights the most salient tenets and attributes of Africana Womanism thus centering on, self-naming, motherhood and recognition and flexibility. Following from the study, it is conspicuous that the fight for women liberation (Hudson-Weems, 1993) in marriages and the professional work space are ancient challenges that continue to journey with the female gender. If given good education and the chance to own their world, the African woman can change the world together with her counterpart which is the call of all these women writers.