PATRIARCHY AND MATRIARCHY AS NEGATIVE THEMES IN SELECTED WORKS OF FLORA NWAPA’S EFURU AND ATA AMA AIDOO’S ANOWA

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

Gender issues have become factors in the social, economic, political, religious development of the society. Patriarchy and matriarchy as negative themes in selected works of Flora Nwapa’s Efuru and Ata Ama Aidoo’s Anowa is to reflect on the negativity of having a man in control of the affairs of the home and the community in general. The two selected works to be used is Efuru and Anowa both tilted after heroines in the works. The works having two different backgrounds Efuru having a Nigerian background while Anowa is of a Ghanaian background but both having African settings, traditions and female authors. Flora Nwapa and Ata Ama Aidoo have thematic pre-occupation of patriarchy and matriarchy.

Social inequality between men and women can be traced to unequal power relations in particular societies, this is reflected in men and women ’s code of conduct, public behaviors, attitude towards children, economical status and roles within the family. This attitude and way of life between the two genders as reflected in Efuru and Anowa, the authors using characters to drive home this point of inequality.

Allan Durant and Nigel Fabb (1900:43) are of the view that human species has a biologically fixed, binary sex division between male and female, but super imposed on this are culturally constructed oppositions of gender: masculine and feminine, men and women. They went further to say that this system of oppositions of gender is in virtually all cultures; it varies from culture to culture and period to period.

Allan Durant and Nigel Fabb (1900:43) reviews gender as:-

While men, masculine, male are taken as Privileged, defining terms, women, feminine, Female are treated as simply the other of those Terms. Specific attributes of women (e.g. bodies, Thoughts, believe etc.) are taken merely as negative to the positive poles of the oppositions….

The two selected works have female protagonists written by female authors giving it a feminist approach. In Africa the female situation is similar to that which obtain in the Christian west, most African societies are patriarchal in nature having the men in charge of all affairs, and it is the male that dominate and legislates.

The first work Efuru (1966) the title character by Flora Nwapa , Efuru is a strong, beautiful, young woman who unfortunately seem to have bad luck with men and unable to bear children. She independently finds strength in her business and her religious faith in the lake goddess, aid to the poor and sick. Like Efuru , Anowa (1970) is a work titled character written by Ama Ata Aidoo. Anowa’s character demonstrates cultural, racial and social tensions. Anowa like Efuru have extra ordinary birth circumstances, having anti social behaviors. The works having honest explorations of the conflicts between the individualism of westernized culture and the social traditions of Africa.

1. AUTHORIAL BACKGROUND OF FLORA NWAPA

Flora Nwapa was born in 1931 and brought up at Oguta in the astern Nigeria. She had her basic education at archdeacon crowther’s memorial girls school, port-Harcourt, CMS girls school Lagos. She went further to university college Ibadan and Edinburgh University (1953) where she received a diploma in education. She was appointed a woman education officer in Calabar and went to Queens’s school Enugu to teach English and Geography. She was assistant registrar (public relations) at the University of Lagos until she returned to the east central state during the crises, later appointed a member of the east central state executive council. She has the honor of being pioneer as the first African woman writer to publish a novel.

Her best known works are Efuru (1966), Idu (1969), this is Lagos and other stories (1971), never again (1976), Wives at war and stories (1980), and one is enough (1981).

1. BACKGROUND STUDY OF AMA ATA AIDOO

Ama Ata Aidoo author, poet, playwright and short story writer was born Christina Ama Aidoo in Ghana in 1942. She had her basic education in Ghana and went further to be one of the first generation of graduates of the University of Ghana in Legon and obtained a B.A degree in English. She taught English and African literature at the University of Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya. She began her literary career by winning a prize in short-story competition organized by Ibadan’s Mbari club a famous cultural workshop of the early 1960’s in Nigeria. Her published works The dilemma of a Ghost (1965), Anowa (1970), No sweetness here(1970), Our sister kill joy(1977), Someone talking to sometime(1985).

Aidoo is one of the best known African woman writers; she has a gift for the sparse economical language of sadness and despair, acid wit of comedy, satire, and irony, parady. She writes about people that strike her interest, using women as central characters, known for her forthrightness, agonizing over the fate of Africa: past, present and the future, this deep love informs her writings.

1. PURPOSE

This study is aimed to bring to bring out the negative aspect of patriarchy and matriarchy in selected works of Flora Nwapa’s Efuru and Ama Ata Aidoo’s Anowa. Focusing on how the characters are affected by the culture and tradition of the respective societies. Both works have similar pre-occupation, beliefs, laws, ideals, patriarchal and matriarchal concepts.

1. JUSTIFICATION

The importance of this research work is to illuminate on the negativity of patriarchy matriarchy to the society using selected works of Flora Nwapa’s Efuru and Ata Ama Aidoo’s Anowa. This research is conceived as an addition to the existing stock of research related to patriarchy and matriarchy. The importance of a better relationship between the male and female gender can’t be ignored as a factor for social growth.

Florence Stratton (1994:1) says African literature critics have ignored gender as a social and analytic category to exclude women’s literary expression as part of African literature. Hence what they define is the male literary tradition. This research work intends to bring this social system closer to our every day life and situations in the selected work.

1. SCOPE AND DELIMTATION

This research work is principally going to study patriarchy and matriarchy as negative themes through the characters in the selected works Efuru and Anowa. Feminism approach will be used as it affects the people through their culture, tradition and religion. Using the African setting focusing on the negativity of patriarchy and matriarchy in the selected works of Flora Nwapa and Ata Ama Aidoo.

1. METHODOLOGY

The validity and reliability of any research work depends on the modes and method to be used in gathering and analyzing the selected text. The theory to be used in this research is liberal feminism theory because both authors have written on women issues from female perspectives.