Is Zaynab Alkali Merely A Feminist Writer? An Appraisal Of The Stillborn And The Virtuous Woman
Amase, Emmanuel Lanior, Tsavmbu Aondover Alexis, Kaan, Aondover Theophilus
Abstract
Many African literary critics seem to have some preconceived notions about female writers. Consequently, there has been indiscriminate branding of some female writers either as feminists or female chauvinists. This portrays them as incapable of addressing other topical issues of national interest other than those that affect the women directly. In this paper therefore, we have undertaken an appraisal of Zainab Alkali’s The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman to buttress our position that the issues in her novels transcend gender imbalance. The paper examines Alkal’s treatment of the clash of westernisation, tradition and city life, political mal-administration, poor infrastructure as well as the challenging environment of the emerging cities. These are issues, which we believe, affect both male and female. The paper advocates a broader look at texts rather than the emphasis on the feminist angle in the interpretation of works by female authors at the expense of probably more important issues.
Keywords
Feminism, Feminists, gender, culture
References
Achebe C. (2000). Anthills of the Savannah. Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) Plc.
Alkali, Z. (1984). The Stillborn. Lagos, Longman.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (1985). The Virtuous Woman. Nigeria, Longman.
Allison, J (2013). “What Is Feminist Literature?” Posted on Jan 17, 2011 in Feminism, Gender, Literature http://www.talesofthepack.com/about-3/about-tales-of-the-pack/copyright-policy/ accessed Wednesday 3rd July, 2013.
Azuike, M. N. (2003). “A Radical Feminist Approach to the Works of Zaynab Alkali”. A Thesis in the Department of English, University of Jos – Nigeria, December.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.3p.188
Refbacks
There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .
2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD .
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature
To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.
<a href="http://www.histats.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://sstatic1.histats.com/0.gif?2893361&101" alt="hit counter code" border="0"></a>