(Re)Examining Womanism in Phoebe Jatau’s The Hound

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Jesse Bijimi

Abstract

Over the years, there has been a proliferation of writing by women authors in Northern Nigeria, central to their concern, is negotiating between what culture is and is not, especially as it relates to the women folks. With literature’s overwhelming role, in its stance as the mirror of the society, is the forceps with which one can gather the customs, believes, thoughts and value systems of a people, thus; learning about how their culture(s), could make or mar them. This explains why the Northern Nigerian woman as a prototype of the African woman has her role(s) defined by history, religion and cultural practices. In light of the foregoing, this paper finds that, this phenomenon called culture (in all its social forms, material traits of a racial, religious or social group) with its cancerous fangs on the livelihood of the average African woman, has today been reconfigured by the Womanist strand of feminism to the extent its impact are both felt and visible. Thus; this paper unknots the nitty-gritties of Africans perception of womanhood by the males and how the woman also sees herself and/or expects to be seen with particular focus on Phoebe Jatau’s The Hound. By this, it shows that contemporary female writers in Northern Nigeria and Africa at large have both re-evaluated themselves and are akin to the significance of their place, thus; crushing the patriarchal hold of their individual societies on them, and in the long run, assuaging their worth as less than humans.

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How to Cite
Jesse Bijimi. “(Re)Examining Womanism in Phoebe Jatau’s The Hound”. The Creative Launcher, vol. 7, no. 6, Dec. 2022, pp. 110-24, doi:10.53032/tcl.2022.7.6.12.
Section
Research Articles

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