The portrayal of single women characters in selected African literary texts

Linda Kwatsha

doi:10.4102/lit.v36i1.1209

Abstract

In this article, the portrayal of single women characters in works by a number of African women authors is critically reflected upon. These women are portrayed as strong, resistant, independent and realistic characters, who boldly resist male paternalism and dominance in order to look to the future with courage. Single women characters are presented as independent individuals rather than as kinship appendages. They are portrayed as architects of their own potential happiness rather than as passive receivers of the dictates of patriarchy. The article will also show that women characters account for their own values, rather than subserviently surrender to stereotypical conventions. African women writers portray single women characters as having the professional and economic means to look after themselves. This portrayal of women characters is part of a debate that translates itself to contemporary everyday philosophical social theory.

Highlights

Today women writers from Africa publish successful and enriching books through which they become agents of social change
From the above discussion it is evident that these authors have invented a woman’s world
The discussion in this article has elucidated the role and image of single women in African society and the way in which some single women characters in the selected texts are portrayed as masters of their own fates

Summary

Introduction

Today women writers from Africa publish successful and enriching books through which they become agents of social change. (cited in Jones & Palmer 1987:3) This view should be considered against the unjust discrimination against women in almost all societies and against the perceived negative perceptions of and attitudes towards women, against all tendencies to place women in a separate category unequal to men by virtue of their biological attributes, oppressing them in their day-to-day life. It is the evolution of time that dictates change and attitude

Background

Conclusion