A STUDY OF THE RE-IMAGING OF WOMANHOOD IN SELECTED CONTEMPORARY YORÙBÁ NOVELS
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Date
2024
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University Of Ilorin
Abstract
Most of the earlier Yorùbá novels were replete with themes that projected the subjugation of women and lowered their dignity and rights. Women were portrayed most often, in the image of subservient and inconsequential characters. Only a very few works existed in Yorùbá literature on the positive portraiture of women in literary writing and criticism. However, such feminist novels have not been given adequate and deserved attention by literary critics. This phenomenon provoked feminist rights advocacy in Nigeria from the early 1940s till date. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine the re-imaging of womanhood in selected contemporary Yorùbá novels. The objectives were to: (i) elucidate the themes relating to the re-imaging of womanhood; (ii) examine the rectitude of the characters that justify a re-imaging of womanhood; (iii) assess the appropriateness of the writers’ views on the re-imaging of womanhood; (iv) analyse authors’ use of language; and (v) evaluate the literary styles of the selected feminist novels.
The study adopted a descriptive method and qualitative research design. The population of Yorùbá feminist novels was thirty-two out of whichỌládẹ̀jọ Òkédìjí’s Àárọ̀ Ọlọ́mọge; Folúkẹ́ Adékẹ́yè’s Ọkùnrin!!!, Omijé Ayọ̀ andKò sí Látẹ; Fadékẹ́mi Adágbádá’s Hábà! Ojúọlápé...; and Níkẹ̀ẹ́ Adésànyà’s Ọdún Á Yakọ? were purposively selected for close reading and content analysis. Oral interviews, research reports, journal articles, and textbooks served as the secondary sources. Liberal feminism, a feminist approach that expresses deep concerns for the irreducible rights of women, and their cultural and psychological states was employed as the theoretical framework.
The findings of the study were:
i. in keeping with the tenets of liberal feminism, the dominant themes in the selected texts, which are women empowerment, gender equality, gender reformation and formal education presented women as dynamic figures;
ii. moral rectitudes of hard work, resilience, determination, chastity, and passionate zeal of the female protagonists in the texts depicted a new image of womanhood;
iii. the authors of the selected novels are unanimous in their realistic views that women are intelligent humans who contribute meaningfully to societal development;
iv. the selected authors’ nuance of language used by the narrators and characters evident in word choice, imagery, and figurative expressions brought out the positive image of women; and
v. the contemporary authors’ literary narrative styles like the flashback, dialogue, and stream-of-consciousness techniques were appropriate in projecting the positive re-imaging of womanhood.
The study concluded that the efforts of the contemporary Yorùbá feminist authors brought out a re-imaging of womanhood in a way that created pathways to gender equality and social justice in tandem with the tenets of liberal feminism and in keeping withYorùbá culture. The study, therefore, recommended that modern Yorùbá novelists should synergize to uphold a positive re-imaging of womanhood to minimize discrimination in the sphere of educational, political, and social disempowerment of women as advocated by liberal feminists.
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Keywords
Womanhood, Re-Imaging, Selected, Yorùbá, Novels