Gender, Social Identiti(es) and the Challenges of Postcolonial Nation Building in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’

Description

Through the prism of masculinity and feminist theories, this essay underlined the multiple oppressive and subjugating experiences of men and women in African male and female-authored novels. In so doing, the work unveiled the intertwined role played by religion, traditions and state to marginalize women in different African societies. In such a highly oppressive environment, I laid emphasis on women’s plights and traumatizing experiences in both the inner and the outer space. I also address the different empowerment strategies women use to free themselves from this triple oppression through the depiction of brave and able female characters in the novels under study. In addition, I covered the critical contribution of women in the nation-building processes of African countries, an achievement that became a page of history. Finally, I discussed the role that the bildungsroman can play in the liberation struggle of women as a new narrative technique encountered in African female-authored novels.