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The Language Of Feminism And Its Impact On The Society
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Statement of the Problem
Men in Africa make women understand that
they, the men, are the head of the family that is, they are superior to
women. They see women as being weak and as a result, women have no say
in the activities of the community. They have no rights and are
subjugated to do whatever he the men want them to do especially in
Africa. Women are made to feel inferior and this breeds some sort of ill
feelings in women.
Objective of the study
The aim of this is to
identify how Mariama Ba uses language to portray feminism - the reaction
of females against the oppressive and discriminatory culture
experienced by them - in her novel So Long a Letter.
Significance of the Study
The
topic Language in Feminist Literature: a study of Mariama Ba’s So Long a
Letter, will serve as a good research material to students and other
researchers.
This work will throw more light on the language of feminism and its impact to society.
Scope of the Study
This project is restricted primarily to the study of the Language in
Feminist Literature in Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter.
Research Question
What is the impact of language of feminism on the society?
What are the ways language of feminism can be improved ?
Research Methodology
The primary material of this work is Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter
while the secondary materials include the various works from the
library.
Limitation of the study
The major limitation of the study is the time taken to study the novel.
Definition of terms
Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.
Language:
the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting
of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.
Society: the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of Study
The
struggle for women’ right began in the 18th century during the period
of intense intellectual activity known as the Age of Enlightenment.
In
traditional Africa the woman is an object of constant scorn,
degradation and physical torture. In the past, women did not exist as
individuals with personalities to defend. They rather existed as mere
docile and exotic accompaniments to the males. Throughout that period,
women lacked a voice to articulate their dilemma and their points of
view. They, thus, accepted their fate without resistance. Such passive
stance results from societal conditioning through questionable cultural
practices. From birth, through childhood and adolescence, to adulthood,
Africans receive from society and others around the messages and
feedbacks which launch them into roles and behaviors considered
appropriate for males and females respectively. Most often, female are
accorded inferior roles and such long years of cultural suppression and
intimidation, unfortunately, misled the women into an underestimation of
their capabilities and self worth. Encased in such a cultural mystique,
the African women were particularly driven by a community sense since
culture obviates individualism. In those days, these women, in addition
to experiencing the same oppressive social condition as their male
counterparts in a developing world, were subjected to extra repressive
burdens arising from the socio-cultural structures of patriarchy and
gender hierarchy. These years of subjugation have, however, produced in
today’s women relentless questioning of the status quo. They protest
against dehumanization, political enslavement and social oppression.
They rationalize that the running of the Africa world is not the
preserve for males and thus there should be absolute equality of both
sexes in all spheres of life. Such a reaction is termed feminism, which
is an ideology that urges, in simple terms, recognition of the claims of
women for equal rights with men.
According to Cora Kaplan
(162) Literary text are constructed from within ideology, and the
reality they articulate is dependent on the historical culture which
surrounds them; so too are the literary critical claims about their
truthfulness or authenticity determined by the culture from which they
arise. Helen Chukwuma (xiv) specifically contends that African feminism
is dedicated and informed from within, from social realities that
obtain. One of such realities is the persistence of sexist
socio-psychological paradigm despite the efforts to overcome “the
androcentricism which informs social lifeâ€. (Uko, 33)
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