RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN IDENTITY IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH

Abstract

African literature is the mirror of African community in which African social reality is depicted. Gender issue is one of the main themes that are a matter of interest to the majority of African authors. They portrayed woman character in patriarchal African society in which male hegemony is a stereotype. In this sense, Chinua Achebe as well as his fellows did not stray from the rule in their writings. In Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, woman is considered as a second class citizen, and gender inequality is a predominant aspect. However, Achebe’s narratives shifted from covering and ignoring women rule to unveiling and reshaping their own identity in his Anthills of the Savannah. For that reason, the objective of the present paper is to determine how Achebe reconstructs women identity by focusing on the character of Beatrice, the female protagonist in his novel Anthills of the Savannah. By adopting post-colonial and feminist perspectives, the present research work attempts to clarify the recreation of new African women and their empowerment in the post-colonial Africa