Superwoman : Enhanced Femininity in Contemporary Nigerian Women’s Fiction

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which two contemporary female Nigerian novelists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Sefi Atta, portray enhanced female characters who are designated as superwomen. It focuses on four texts: Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, and Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Swallow. It argues that such characters represent a growing realisation that Nigerian women are less prepared to bemoan gender injustice than to make conscious efforts to improve their own lives. The notion of superwomanhood is discussed, and the various elements that comprise it are described, including the attainment and maintenance of personal autonomy, the ability to reverse the dynamic of patriarchy, and the development of insight and foresight. The paper also argues that female characters in the texts undergo a “trajectory of becoming” on their way to attaining the status of superwomen.