A Psychofeminist Reading of Atta's Everything Good Will Come and Shoneyin's The Secret Lives of Baba Segi'S Wives
[Thesis]
Bajeh, Hayatu
Ojaide, Tanure
Kwara State University (Nigeria)
2020
108
M.S.
Kwara State University (Nigeria)
2020
In African scholarship, there has been unwavering interest in gender concerns especially with regards to femininity and the expectations from the sexes. Research has also established that the socio-cultural and political structure of many Africa cultures disempowers women; deny them the opportunities to contribute their quota to national development. The psychological impact of this disempowerment among other oppressive structures is significant and in need of investigation. In view of this, this present research focused on the psychology of female characters in two selected contemporary African novels. The novels are Sefi Atta's Everything Good Will Come (2005) and Lola Shoneyin's The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives (2010). The methodology for the study was qualitative and the approach sociological. The theoretical framework of psychofeminism was deployed on the selected texts to explicate the psychological effects of experiences such as abuse, sexual violence, reproductive challenges, marriage vicissitudes, and marginalisation on the female characters. Some of the findings of the study were that the effects of patriarchy on the female's psyche are significant to the effect that they implicate and condition their actions and choices. The social conditioning and unequal societal expectations on women are also responsible for the decisions they take. The study concluded that patriarchal structures and societal influences go beyond determining the roles women play in societies. It extends to determining the choices they make and influencing their quality of lives.