CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

Feminism is a movement that champions the cause of women. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, feminism is a collection of movement and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing and defending equal political, economic and social rights for women. This involves seeking psychological, social, religious and legal rights for women. Charles Fourier, the Utopia Socialist and French philosopher is credited to have originated the word ‘feminism’ in 1837. ‘Feminism’ and ‘feminist’ were first mentioned in France and Netherlands in 1872 and in 1890’s and 1910 in Britain and United States respectively.

Feminist movement has been divided into three phases: ‘feminine’ phase (1840-1880) when writers imitated male models, a ‘feminist’ phase,(1880-1920) during which women challenged male values and a ‘female’ phase (1920) which saw women as advocating their own perspective. There are different theories of feminism Examples include Alice Walker’s Womanism, Hudson Weem’s Africana Womanism, Chikwenye Ogunyemi’s(African) Womanism, Molara Ogundipe’s Stiwanism among others.

African writers such as Ogunyemi, Emecheta and others have rejected the womanism of Alice Walker because they assume it does not address the problems of Africans. This leads us to the question postulated by Spivak (1999) ‘how does one represent the self of others? The inconsistency found in African American theories of feminism has forced African female writers to search for an alternative theory which will re-define their plights. Thus, Ogunyemi has modified her theory to ‘African feminism; she emphasises that African feminism is different from African-American version.

“When I was thinking about womanism, I was thinking about the area that are relevant forAfricans but not black Americans… issues like extreme poverty and in-law problems, older women oppressing younger women, women oppressing co-wives or men oppressing their wives….These are the problems that have to my mind been covered from an African-womanist perspective, so I thought it was necessary to develop a theory to accommodate these differences (Arnt 2000.715).”

Marginalisation of women in Africa has been reflected in the works of scholars such as Achebe, Gabriel Okara, Amos Tutuola, Cyprian Ekwensi. They create female characters who are inferior to their male counterparts. Such characters rely solely on their male counterparts in order to be heard or seen in their communities. Their works reflect the patriarchal society in Africa. M. Toma-Ikomi posits that ‘husband status is socially superior as compared with that of wife status in African traditional marriage relationship. The African woman must serve, respect and honour her husband’(17). In support of his assertion, Omolara (2012), writes that ‘…. In the patriarchal society, the man is expected to always be in control, thus, power is exercised in this sort of social relation to maintain existing pattern of social inequality….’ (124). This and many other stereotypes are what African feminists are against. Eyen (2011), has quoted Dale Spencer as having said that one of the principles of feminism is that society has been constructed with bias which has favoured men’(119). This bias is reflected in all actions of men.

African female writers such as Flora Nwapa, Tess Onwueme, Zainab Alkali, Zulu Sufola among others have written to debunk all stereotypes which portray women as weak liabilities. They emphasize that women are intelligible, as they can attain any height despite societal constraints. In support of this assertion, Eluke (2012), says ‘the contemporary woman unlike her sister in traditional era, believes that she is a provider and not a consumer of wealth which patriarchy portrays’. Feminist writers create the awareness in – line with John Mbiti that the woman ‘does not only bear life, she nurses, cherishes and gives warmth and care for life because all human life passes through her to become’.

Although there are differences between African and Western feminism, they have the same goal which is the liberation of women from all forms of marginalisation. In reading Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, we notice how they try to give African women proper place and dignity which they are denied in a patriarchal world. In Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come, she creates characters such as Enitan , Sheri and Grace Ahem who challenge societal stereotypes. In Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, Kainene and Olanna have strong voices and they raise to challenge the stereotype of male superiority.

1.1 Objectives of the Study

This research project aims at the following: 1. Examining the relationships between women and their male counterparts. 2. Revealing the influence of women in societal and economic building 3. Asserting the superiority of women over their male counterparts. 4. Unmasking the exploitation of women. 5. Proffering solution to patriarchy.

1.2 Significance of the Study

Women all over the world and particularly in Africa are unique, complete and resilient. Hence, the study being a contribution to an existing discourse on gender relations, seeks to advocate for the rights of women. It will reveal issues bothering on women exploitation particularly in Africa. Its aim is to motivate women towards achieving social, psychological, political, legal, economic and religious emancipation in a patriarchal world.

1.3 Statement of Problem

There has been an age-long stereotype labelled against women. As a result, women have been marginalized in all sectors of life. This marginalization will be revealed using Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.

1.4 Methodology

This research is largely library based. Data will be obtained from journals, encyclopaedias, dictionaries; text books and the internet. But it is based primarily on Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Chimamanda Adiche’s Half of a Yellow Sun.

1.5 Delimitation of the Study

This research project is focused on feminism. Although there are many texts on feminism, due to time and space constraint, it is however limited to Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a yellow Sun.

1.6 Bio Data of Authors

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie hails from Abba in Anambra State of Nigeria. She was born in Enugu but she grew up in the University town of Nsukka in south eastern Nigeria where her father was a professor of statistics and her mother a registrar of the University. She studied Medicine and Pharmacy briefly at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, before she moved to the United States of America to study communications and political science at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University to live closer to her sister, who had a medical practice in Coventry. She received a bachelor’s degree from Eastern, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2001. In 2003, she completed a Master’s degree in creative writing at John Hopkins University. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts in African Studies from Yale University. She received an O. Henry Prize in 2003. She was a 2005-2006 Hodder Fellow at Princeton, where she taught Introductory Fiction. She divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Sefi Atta was born in 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria.She attended Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos and Millfield School in England. Her tertiary education was at the Birmingham University from which she graduated in 1985 and proceeded to train as a Chartered Accountant She graduated as a creative writer from Antioch University, Los Angeles, USA. She is a playwright and novelist who particularly enjoys writing plays. Her short stories have appeared in journals such as Los Angeles Review, Mississippi Review and World Literature Today. Her debut novel, Everything Good Will Come, published in 2005 was awarded the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2006. She has been hailed as “One of the most original, imaginative and gifted fiction writers in Africa, and arguably the best of her generation,” at the NOMA Award in 2009, and was a recipient of the prestigious THISDAY Award in 2012. She is married to Gboyega Ransome Kuti, and they are blessed with a beautiful daughter, Temi.

1.7 Organization of the Study

This research project is divided into five chapters. Chapter one being the Introduction, comprises; (1) Abstract (2) Background of the study (3) Objective of the study (4) Statement of the problem (5) Significance of the study (6) Delimitation of the study (7) Methodology (8) Bio- data of the authors (9) Organization of the work (10) Theoretical framework. Chapter two, The Literature Review, comprises; (A) Review of Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and (B) Review of Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. Chapter three focuses on feminism in Sefi Atta’s Everything GoodWill Come. Chapter four is the comparative approach to feminism in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. Chapter five is the conclusion. It comprises summary, Conclusion and finally works cited.

1.8 Theoretical Framework

This research is based on the theory of feminism. Feminism as a theory or movement is concerned with advancing the position of women through their achievement of political, legal and economic rights in male dominated societies. It has the task of emancipating women from all forms of marginalization created for them by their male counterparts. Steady (1998), defines African feminism as ‘emphasising female autonomy and co-operation, nature over culture; the centrality of children, multiple mothering and kinship’. African feminism unlike western feminism is not antagonist to men but it challenges them to consciously avoid all forms of female marginalisation.

The problem of most third world countries, particularly in Africa is the gender imbalance, that has displaced women in life‘s ladder. This displacement is basically because of the patriarchal nature of most African societies which has aided men to marginalize women socially, politically, psychologically, economically and religiously. African women writing emerged in 1970’s with the goal of dispelling the mis-representation of womanhood evident in male writings.

Feminist theory is not abstract because it is within the shores of all nations. It is a call to women emancipation and self-assertion in a purely patriarchal society. This theory is relevant to the study of Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.