COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EMECHETA’S SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AND NWAPA’S EFURU

ABSTRACT

            This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the works of two Nigerian female novelists: Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa, it looks at the contemporary African society which is dominated by men.Little or no recognition is given to women thus they have been oppressed, depressed, subjected and neglected. In this regards African female writers like Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa, Ama Ata Aidoo, Mariama Ba, Zaynab Alkali among others fought on behalf of African women through their works by giving them significant roles which portray women as a virtue and instrument of honour in the Africa society.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0              INTRODUCTION

Emecheta and Nwapa are earliest feminist writers, whose works serve as the starting point for the independence and freedom of African women in general. They wrote novels about the struggles of African women in a contemporary African society and portray the condition of women in the traditional African setting. Their works promote equality for men and women in political, economic, educational, traditional and social spheres. They believe that women are oppressed due to their sex based on the dominant ideology of patriarchy.

Patriarchy literally means rule by men or by paternal right.It is a situation whereby women are ruled or controlled by men, giving power and importance to men.

Were Nigeria and Africa oppressively masculinity? The answer is “yes” Ghana was known to have some matrilineal society such as Akans; but Nigeria’s traditional culture, Muslim as well as non-Muslim had been masculine – based even before the advent of the white man. The source, nature and extent of female subordination and oppression have constituted a vexed problem in African literary debates. Writers such as Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana and late Flora Nwapa of Nigeria insisted that the image of the helpless, dependent, unproductive African women was once ushered in by European imperialists whose women lived that way. On the other hand, the Nigeria-born, expatriate writer Buchi Emecheta, along with other critics, maintain that African women were traditionally subordinated to sexist cultural mores.

Colonial rule aggravated the situation by introducing a lopsided system in which African men received a well rounded education like their European counterparts before the mid-nineteenth century, African women received only utilitarian, cosmetic skills in domestic science centers the kind of skills that could only prepare them to be useful helpmates of educated, premier nationalists and professionalssuch as Nnamdi Azikwe Nigeria’s first president, and the late Obafemi Awolowo of the Yoruba tribalist leader.    

1.1       COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND INTERTEXTUALITY

Comparative analysis refers to the way of comparing and contrasting two things: two texts, two theories, two historical figures and so on. It is also item by item comparison of two or more comparable alternatives, processes, products, qualifications, sets of data, systems etc. it can be two similar things that have critical differences of similarities yet turn out to have surprising commonalities.

Comparative analysis shows the relationship between A and B and how two things are similar and/or different. It requires comparism between two things. It is also known as a compare and contrast essay.

According to (Irwin, 228) “intertextuality is the shaping of texts meaning by other texts. It can be referred to author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a readers referencing of one text in reading another.”

The term “intertextuality” has itself been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined by post structuralist Julian Kristeva in 1966. If we were to look at intertextuality as a weaving, then it would become apparent that for a piece of fabric to be intertextual it would put together many different threads. It would be woven from threads pulled from many sources to create new weaving. The same can be said for books intertextuality results when the author echoes or refers to other texts and other authors. The electronic labyrinth claims that a literary work is not simply the product of a simple actor but of its relationship to other texts and to the structure of language itself.

In Africa, the early colonial era was pre-occupied by issues of cultural conflicts between Africans and western cultures, religion and world view but the post independent African countries experience further changes in themes, this brought about changes in African writers thematic focus of most of female writers such as Ama Ata Aidoo, Marima Ba, Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa.

Flora Nwapa was the lone African female novelist’s voice lamenting patriarchy, in 1966, she published Efurusignificantly in African feminist scholarship, it signals a long awaited departure from the stereotypical female portraiture in male-authored African literature but the prolific Buchi Emecheta joined the fray with The Joys of Motherhood (1980). Therefore as the female Nigerian critics, Chikwenye Okwonje Ogunyemi writes:

If Nwapa is the challenger, Emecheta is the fighter…

for the first time, female readers, through characters,

are aware of their subjugation by their fathers, uncles,

husbands, brothers and son.

Examples of feminist writers are Elizabeth Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, Julia Ward, Lockwood, Mary Wollstonecraft, Simeon De Beauvoir, Catherine Acholonu, Ama Ata aidoo, Marima Ba, Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa.

1.2       AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This research work will examine the two novels by comparing and differentiating the novels, since the writers share similarities and differences in their texts.

1.3       SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of this work is relatively wide.It will be determined by how affective or relevant a portion is to the study.The study will touch the mainline text, i.e. the area in which the topic is concerned.

It would have been worthwhile to use as many texts for this research but it will be limited to Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Nwapa’s Efuru.

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