Feminism Using Buchi Emecheta’s ‘The Joys of Motherhood’ and Zaynab Alikali’s ‘The Still Born’
Chapter One
The Purpose Of The Study
This work examines the concept of feminism and various roles women play in the society through the work of both gender writers.
It also examines the response of the females to the male dominated society and bring out the feminist perspective in the works of various writers. It also examines that women too have played great roles in the growth of the society and their immediate families, thus, they deserve to be acknowledged and appreciated by the male gender.
CHAPTER TWO
INTRODUCION
2.1 This chapter will look in to the views of literary expert about feminism in Europe, America and Africa Nigeria in particular. This chapter will also identify certain concept that has to do with feminism.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Feminism is a world wide ideological and political movement aimed at changing the exiting power relation between men and women (Joseph 2003). Apart from this view, seldom and window son (1993)writes ‘feminism –has sought to disturb the complacent certainties of such a patriarchal culture to assert belief in sexual inequality and to eradicate sexist domination in transforming the society’.
From this definition would observe that feminism is concerned with societal inequality with emphasis led on the female gender to develop herself esteem. It is directed against patriarchal hegemony which according to Joseph (2003) ‘give men confidence subordinates the female or that the female as an inferior being’ .Men used their field to establish themselves on the literary scene gaining victory over matriachism. This made writers like Chauce, Shakespeare, Milton to mention a few to focus on male protagonist, hence, relegating the female character or presenting them as complememtaries as opposed to the enterprises of the male character. Therefore feminism is not the movement against female ignorance exploitation and subjugation,it’s also negates male ignorance,prejudices and biases.
Feminism Criticism.
Feminism criticism came through the Women Liberation Movement in Europe and America in the 19th century. Women right suffrage movement were the crucial determining factors. There were basically two waves in the development of the feminist criticism. The first stage was in the early 20th century which was dominated by writers like Oliver Schreine, Elizabeth Robins, Rebecca West, Virginia Wolf, George Eliot and many more.
Virginia Wolf’s general contribution to feminism is her recognition that gender identity is socially constructed and can be challenged and transformed. She has continually examined the problem facing women writer as the first waves was more concerned with the polities of women’s authorship and the representation of women condition within literature. Her call therefore is on women to be interested in themselves and their environment and write as women and for women making their fear, pain love and experiences their thematic concern. In her fictional work ‘Women and Fiction’ (1929) she projects women, their fiction and works written about them. Woolf having observed that fiction was the easiest for women to write due to the fact that it is the least concentrated from of art, she then challenge them to take up writing not just fiction but history criticism and essay, prophesying that literature would soon become forewomen as fore men an art to be studied and a means through which women would be able to express themselves.
CHAPTER THREE.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will look into the plot summaries of the two texts used in this research work. Also, the thematic concerns which operates under feminism as used in the texts.
THE PLOT SUMMARY OF BUCHI EMECHETA’S ‘THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD’
The novel ‘The Joys of Motherhood’ is centered on the problems besetting women in a male dominated society. The story captures the pathetic and grim condition of a woman who in spite of her struggles and determination to survive in life ends up dying with ignormity. Her efforts, hopes an aspiration comes to naught
The story centers on Nnu Ego, the heroine of the novel. She is the product of the lone relationship between Chief Nwokocha Agbadi and Ona, the only surviving child of Obi Umuna. Obi Umuuna had decided that his lovely daughter, Ona, would not marry but could stay in his house to have as many as men as she wanted in the hope that if she had a son, that son would bear his name and continue the family lineage. Chief Nwokocha had reached an agreement with Ona, his mistress to the effect that if Ona had a baby girl, she would be Agbadi’s but if a boy, he would belong to Obi Umunna. Ona’s child turns out to be a baby girl and named Nnu Ego by Agbadi for she is worth more than twenty bags of cowries.
The novel opens with the traumatic experience of Nnu Ego who had just lost her first child [a baby boy ]. She is running away from her husband’s house in Yaba very early in the morning. The death of her son drives her to a state of madness so much so that she is seen running towards the carter bridge with the view of jumping into the lagoon but luckily for her Nwakusor who comes from her village, Ibuza rescue her from her suicide mission. The story then takes us back to Ibuza town the place of Nnu Ego ‘s birth. Nnu Ego was born a beautiful girl and so captured the interest of many men in the village and beyond. She was married off to Amatokwu in a lavish wedding ceremony. But the marriage turned sour because it was not blessed with an issue for three years with Amatokwu taking a second wife who took in within a month. Nnu Ego was derided and treated badly. And so given her experience in the house of Amatokwu, the death of her four weeks old son to her new husband, Nnaife, shatters the hope and confidence which had come with the birth of the boy.
Having being consoled by friends and relatives, Nnu Ego takes in again and gives birth to another baby boy named Oshiagu. More children come in quick succession as she ends up having seven living sons and daughters from nine pregnancies. Nnu Ego is faced with difficult existential problems in her husband’s house described as ‘queer looking’. In spite of all odds, given the state of poverty that confronts her and her children, she is able to feed and train them in the hope that they will later take care of her. Nnu Ego and her husband are abandoned by the children especially the male who have risen to the upper crust of the social ladder. First, Kehinde, one of the twins decides to marry a Yoruba man, the murderous response of Nnaife to this ends him in prison. Nnu Ego is blamed for everything in the family for what Ibuza people perceived to be her children inadequacies. She is rejected by her people and by implication her own children. In this state of rejection, sorrow and abandonment, she dies by the road side after wondering out one night ‘with no chikl to hold her hand and no friend to talk to her’ (Pg 224).
CHAPTER FOUR
SUMMARY, FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
Summary
In this research work, the history of feminism as a concept has been traced shedding lights on the factors that prompted it and the foremost profounder of this theory, also, the ideas of other scholars have been looked into.
Subsequent chapters have looked into the critical review of ‘The joys of motherhood’ and ‘The stillborn’ by Buchi Emecheta and zaynab Alkali respectively. Also a study has being carried out on the authors’ position and the various angles they regard the female gender and the means through which they have expressed their views.
Findings
Women have always been seen according to traditional rights to stay within a certain confinement. Their roles in the society are seen as necessity than an opportunity. Societal norms projected women as being useful for procreation and nothing more, and any woman who dares to act against it was labelled a witch, declared an outcast or regarded with distain for going against traditional rights. Even women who strive hard to give their children good living and education are forgotten as in the case of Nnu Ego. This is therefore to say all genders should treated equally. Li broke through her father’s traditional belief and custom to be an independent woman.
However, the research work has been able to bring out areas which women have been deprived and also need to be emancipated.
Therefore, the researcher recommends that women should be allowed to fight and seek social position. Li sought for social position, she became the first woman to build a modern house in the community. Also woman should seek educational opportunity, through some traditions and customs forbids therefore seek emancipation, letting the society know the importance of the girl-education.
Conclusion
From the above findings, one could deduce that the struggle for political and economic recognition by straggle for political and economics recognition by women is a Universal campaign which would continue because what the men are willing to compromise is not enough to rate women as equal to men. The more women are economically independent and the more men continue to ignore their effort the more these women will feel subjugated.
Therefore, in an attempt to draw our conclusions, a comparative analysis would be carried out on both texts looking into their thematic compositions, positions, taking into consideration how they all affect gender issues. The call therefore is on women to exhibit good moral habit and also stand for what they are, refusing to be docile and inactive in the society, raising above any humiliating condition, looking forward to enhancing their status in the society. Also on men and the society to appreciate women and encourage their efforts to contribute to societal growth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary sources
Alkali, zaynab; The stillborn Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Ltd, 1995.
Emecheta, Buchi: The Joys of MotherhoodIbadan; Oxford and Portsmouth: it ememan.
Secondary sources.
- Afolabi, J.A (2002) ‘of womb-men, we-men and woe-men: Feminist Aesthetics, theatre practice and the Democratic process in Nigeria’ To Ahmed, y and Akinwale, A (ed) Theatre and Democracy in Nigeria” Kraft Books Ltd.
- Alice walker (1989) search of our mother’s Gender: A woman’s Prose [Nv:HB] Books
- Biodun Ajayi (1993) “Feminism: A lost battle an article of August 24, 1993.
- Elaine showalter (1979) ‘A Literature of their own’. Towards a feminist poetics.
