Reclaiming Igbo womanhood: A study of select works of Flora NWAPA, BUCHI EMECHETA and CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE.

Abstract

Transnational feminism, as a significant paradigm of postcolonial feminism, is sensitive to the differences in female experiences across the globe and emphasizes the necessity to undertake distinct decolonial approaches for contesting Western feminist attempts to generalize and obscure the distinct needs of women in postcolonial countries. It seeks to identify, critique, and resist the intersectional elements and patriarchal structures operating in the lives of women belonging to distinct contexts. While asserting their solidarity with Adichie‘s proclamation that ―We should all be feminists,‖ the postcolonial feminist thinkers and academics recognize the growing relevance of Women‘s Studies as one of the most pertinent branches of feminism, capable of exploring multiple dimensions of female experiences, and aiming to bring about radical changes in the society by effecting gender equality. Women‘s Studies, as a significant branch of feminism, attempts to explore various aspects of a culture that are oppressive to women, and relies on interdisciplinary approaches to identify and strengthen the individual and collective female potential, specific to different cultures. This thesis attempts to investigate the role of select women writers belonging to Igbo ethnic community in southeastern Nigeria in giving a more inclusive representation of the experiences and concerns of Igbo women. The Nigerian writers Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, explore the multiple dimensions of female experiences in Igboland in their creative articulations and present the need to reclaim the ethnocultural heritage and agency of Igbo women to institute a socio-political transformation towards gender equality,simultaneously not negating completely certain constructive aspects of the colonial impact. The changing nature of gender ideology in Igboland, the general Igbo attitude towards women‘s reproductive ability and maternal care labour, and Igbo women‘s substantial participation in the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967, as represented in select texts by these writers, when read in the light of the theoretical precepts put forward by Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Molara Ogundipe-Leslie and those of several other relevant African theorists and ethnographers offer a better insight into the specific nature of Igbo women‘s experiences of both oppression and resistance. Keywords: Igbo women, Adichie, Emecheta, Nwapa, African motherhood, Biafran War.