WOMEN’S RELIGIOUS AND CROSS-CULTURAL BURDEN IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF AFRICAN FEMALE WRITERS

Abstract

Culture and religion have been the favourite subjects while discussing the problems of African women. Right from time, the culture of African societies operates within a patriarchal system that establishes norms and morals which favour the birth of a male child over the female. These norms defined the cultural value that guides the decision and behaviour of the society against the relevance of a female child. While culture might be entirely patriarchal in nature, religion shapes this cultural system. Of course, the religion of a people is defined through their cultural attributes. Culture and religion in this stead, have been the spearheads of the disadvantage women experience in African society. They are the founts of male chauvinism, infringing the rights of women as members of society. This study, therefore, explores qualitative textual analysis method to showcase religion and cultural influence on African women against the problem relating to motherhood, womanhood, widowhood and polygamy in Buchi Emecheta’s “The Joys of Motherhood,” Mariama Ba’s “So Long a Letter,” and Grace Ukala’s “The Broken Bond.” It also contributes to the understanding of these complexities and highlights the importance of literature in shedding light on these issues. The paper further examines the feminist literary theory to understand the intersection of gender, culture, and power in African women’s experiences and redefine women’s image within social and gender contexts.