Abstract:
This thesis examines the image of African women in a patriarchal society. The purpose
of this research work is to find out how Buchi Emecheta uses this text to present
African women, how Amma Darko uses her book to present African women, whether
these two novelists present women differently or similarly and also to find out whether
Emecheta and Darko present African women different from the way some male authors
have presented women. The investigation was done through the use of Joys of
Motherhood written by Buchi Emecheta and Beyond the Horizon authored by Amma
Darko. The theoretical frameworks for this study are African feminism and postcolonial
African literary theory. The researcher carefully selected one standard novel of
each author. In each, the key female characters were identified, their role and
relationship with men and other women were analysed. This study reveals that Buchi
Emecheta presents African women in a number of ways and notable among them are;
they are presented as second-class citizens, very assertive, very hardworking, they can
face difficulties in the absence of their husbands, they are appendages of men and
capable of fostering peace and tranquillity. Amma Darko, in contrast, presents African
women diversely as people who are naïve, who are exploited easily, as people who
cannot make their own choices, as sex commodities and as property that must be sold to
the highest bidder. Similarly, it is revealed that both Emecheta and Darko presented
African women as: people that can be battered, people who should not resist the sexual
pleasures of men, means through which their parents get wealth, people who are
hardworking, appendages of men, people who are created for the sake of men and
people who are incapable of making their own decisions.
Description:
A THESIS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION, FACULTY
OF LANGUAGES, SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE
STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARD OF THE MASTER
OF PHILOSOPHY OF ENGLISH DEGREE.