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

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.