Portrait Of Feminism And Social Change In Selected Novels Of African Female Writers

INTRODUCTION

This research work titled "Portrait of Feminism and Social Change in Selected Novels of African Female Writers' seeks to evaluate the commitment of African female writers to the deconstruction and reconstruction of the image of the African woman in the African novel.

 Feminist scholars (Helen Cixous, Mariama B4, Akaci Excibo, Chikwenye Okonjo Oyunyemite) have urged female writers to use their writing as oppositional discourse to the stereotyped portraiture of women by male authors, which emphasizes women's subordinate position in the society, Aristotle asserted in his time that the female is female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities", and St Thomas Aquainus believed that woman is an imperfect man." (In Raman Selden and Peter Widdowson. 203). This image of women still persists in life as well as in literature. Feminists argue that there is no natural reason why women should be regarded, or regard themselves as inferior to mon. Rather, the image of women in life as well as in literature is man-made and based on socio-cultural context. Female authors have therefore been urged to use their writing to advance the image of womanhood.