Women in the Contemporary African Literature

Abstract

This chapter visits the African literature and shows through the work of some authors, the representation of women, from the perspective of male or female writers. For female writers, we discuss the first and second waves of African feminism. We see how women characters are faithful to their description of subordinated to men either culturally, financially or sexually. We observe the strategies authors propose for emancipation, and the representations of women who chose another path. We analyze the relationship between women themselves, and between mother and daughter. Through the analysis of three mother–daughter characters, we analyze how the generational problematic takes place, as a repetition of the same or a conflict for a change. Through the stories of these characters, we see the representation of social realities and alternatives for women.