The Feminist Ambivalence In Africa Dramas:
Date
2008-07
Authors
Ezenwanebe, O.C·
Journal Title
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Abstract
African women have relentlessly expressed their predicament within the
framework of African traditional culture as oppressive and hence unacceptable.
Literature has proved to be one of the forms through which their collective
aspiration for equity and justice is being constructively expressed within a
literary ideology commonly known as Feminism. Many Nigerian literary artists
like - Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa, Zulu Sofola, Tess Onwueme, Akachi
Adimora-Ezeigbo, Stella Oyedepo, etc have in various ways articulated the
oppressive condition of women .in the context of the Nigerian environment. In all,
African feminist literary critics have identified some forms of representation that
distort the African conception of feminist ideology.
This paper offers a critical examination of some of the distortions in the
dramatization of feminist ideals in Nigerian theatre. How do Nigerian female
playwrights envisage the issue of feminist oppression and liberation within the
context of Nigerian traditional culture? To answer the above question, the role
of the female protagonists in Tess Onwueme's two plays: Ona in The Broken
Calabash and Wazobia in The Reign of Wazobia, are critically analysed. A close
examination of the plays reveals Tess Onwueme's ambivalence to some key
feminist principles, and this is deduced from the ambiguous relationship between
concern and dramaturgy or theme and technique as well as intention and its
realization.
Description
Staff Publication
Keywords
Feminist , African Drama
Citation
Ezenwanebe,O.C.(2008) The Feminist Ambivalence In Africa Dramas: The Case of The Empowered Women In Tess Onwueme's Two Plays. ASUU-UNILAG Journal Of Contemporary Issues,vol.3,(1).