Abstract
This article investigates the critical views of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe on some African traditional customs which deny identity and welfare to women and his literary endeavor to unravel the patriarchal legacy in his In the Chest of a Woman. It examines the dictates of patriarchy that militate against females’ emancipation and lay a foundation for their marginalization and oppression. It attempts to read Mawugbe’s call for gender balance and equal treatment for men and women in modern society. Two sexist practices are targeted: the denial of inheritance rights to female children and the capital punishment of those who go against tradition by becoming pregnant out of customary wedlock. The study asserts that if modern African society should experience a participatory socio-economic development it is urgent to end sexism and gender oppression in families and society, and to give men and women equal opportunities to emerge as fulfilled free beings.
Highlights
EL DESCRÉDITO DEL LEGADO PATRIARCAL EN EL CONTEXTO AFRICANO TRADICIONAL: IN THE CHEST OF A WOMAN DE EFO KODJO MAWUGBE
The playwright seeks to reposition gender discourse in women’s favor in his native Akan traditional society. He puts across the message of the reforms needed in African patriarchal societies’ customary laws, mores and traditions to arrive at gender equality and treatment. His grudge is against androcentrism, an ideology which Paul Simpson thinks is the main reproach to be leveled against patriarchy sexist practices:
My analysis will focus on the following points: first, a critique on African customs of patriarchy; second, the ways in which patriarchal legacy can be debunked in favor of development; and third, Mawugbe’s construction of African womanhood
Summary
A look at Efo Kodjo Mawugbe’s art shows him as a gender sensitive writer. He promotes the female gender by producing works in which the images of women are renewed. When gender sensitive critics have for some time decried the negative image of women in West African literature (Ghanaian literature in particular) of dramatic expression, and works of theatre are put under serious scrutiny for signs of gender bias in the form of exclusion of female perspective or negative portrayal of female characters, a writer like Mawugbe stands unaccused. His crusade for gender reconstruction goes beyond the mere sentiment and makes for the door of qualitative reconstruction that will bring into full manifestation the entire potential of women (Owonibi 2009: 236). Such a woman breaks the ugly yoke of stagnation and discrimination
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