TRACING THE EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF AFRICAN FEMALES THROUGH THE AGES: AN OVERVIEW OF SELECTED LITERARY WORKS

Abstract

The image of African women has evolved over the years. The study traced and critically analyzed how African female persona and experience have been depicted starting from pre-colonial, colonial to postcolonial eras using selected literary texts. It highlighted the impacts made by feminist writers towards a re-definition of the African woman. The theoretical framework was hinged on Feminist theory. Feminism, feminist ideologies and their proponents were also highlighted. The research revealed that the image of pre-colonial and colonial African women as portrayed in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine, Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel, Flora Nwapa’s Efuru, El Saadawi’s The Woman at Point Zero, Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter among others was ascribed a second class status. The Postcolonial African women have come to the awareness of their rights and roles through the numerous intellectual and political campaigns of African feminist writers. Their image has changed from being in the kitchen, bearing and rearing children to also shouldering responsibilities as most powerful men in the community as depicted in Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah, Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of the Yellow Sun among others. The study recommended the acquisition of good education and self-development as the major strategies to confront the impediments orchestrated by patriarchy.