ABSTRACT
This project basically examine the language of gender discrimination
in African literary works with special reference toPURPLE
HIBISCUS and YELLOW-YELLOW. In the past few years, women folk have
been rendered invisible or stereotyped by their male counterparts. As a
result, women voices are not heard, they are relegated to the
background.
Gender is a central organizing principle of societies and often
governs the processes of production and reproduction, consumption, and
distribution. Gender roles are the 'social definition' of women and men,
and vary among different societies and cultures, classes and ages, and
during different periods in history. They vary greatly across the Nile
Basin and sub-Saharan Africa at large. Gender-specific roles and
responsibilities are often conditioned by household structure, access to
resources, political stability, and ecological conditions. Gender
research in rural development is therefore essential in poverty
reduction and sustainability of development interventions. With the
feminist movement, there is a fight for female emancipation and as a
result, the feminist rose up for equal gender in African society.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Language is a means of communication among human beings. There are
further classifications of language into formal or informal verbal or
non-verbal, written or unwritten. Chafe (1996) defines
language as a system which mediates in a highly complex way between the
universe of meanings and universe sounds. Chomsky and Halle (2000) see
language as a system of rules which determines the relation of sound to
meaning for infinity of sentence for that language.
Language is purely human and non-instructive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced
symbols. Language is considered by other linguists as a vehicle of
culture. J. F. Weredu (1994) asserts that language is uniquely human and this appears to be the most important distinctions.
Further still, there are some characteristics of language, which make
the meaning, function and mode clearer. Nobody can deny that we live
in an era of rapid and radical change which will inevitably affect the
position and status of women, even in the darkest part or most backward
corner of the globe. It is therefore in humanity’s interest to
encourage rather than resist a change. Today, urbanization, advance in
technology and medicine provide women with unparalleled opportunities to
reach out for self fulfillment and more than ever before, women have
the ability to control their own fertility and need not continue to
procreate until they reach menopause as was the case in the past.
1.2STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In defining the problems of this research, it would be good to
appraise the role of women in the society. “Women” is an indispensable
subject in a progressive society. Behind a successful man, there is a
resourcefully woman. The society remains adamant where women do not
exist. Women are really good companions and partners in progress; not
the fair weather type. Women try to appease the heart of their male
counterparts, they try to manage the miserable conditions of the
undesirable men. At last, the whole attributes go to the men(Elechi Amadi) while
the blame bounces back on the women, poor women yet they
preserve. Women your attributes are in definite, your status is worthy
of emulations.
In Achebe’s earliest works such as Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, he
portrays women’s life as revolving round the kitchen, the bedroom and
the labour room. Male children are discouraged not to sit with them so
as not to get polluted with their feminine ideas. But the word ‘women’
does not mean inferiority.
The women hardly knew anything that is not thought to be important,
they could only imagine what was inside ancestral but they were allowed
to see the inside even though they did the painting. When Akuekue’s
bride price (dowry) is to be paid, the men did all the negotiations
while the women only brought in the food afterwards. Achebe’s recent
works like Girls of War portray women as heroines.
1.3OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
This research aims at identifying the oppression of woman in
Africa. With this awareness came an attempt to evaluate the ways in
which women have been portrayed in African literature which coincided
with the rise of women. Liberation and feminist movement gave the
impetus to re-evaluate the role of woman in Africa societies and in
literatures.
This research paper is intended to enumerate the roles of African
women in politics and oppressive conditions of women in Africa with a
view of identifying the problems that have been militating against ways
of solving the problems and to highlights the results of the finding up
to date especially as it concerns the use of language by African
literary writers when female issues are being discussed.
1.4SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
In carrying out this study, it is hope that it would correct the
mistake that women are just sub-human as being portrayed by their male
counterparts but they are real human and indeed substantial in
qualities. The findings of this study would then be of great importance
and benefit to the government, NGOs, African patriarchs and
traditionalist.
1.5SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study will be limited to African women in that it will study two
African novels written by African female writers. This limitation is
due to time factor and besides, the various roles of women are similar,
if not the same all over the world.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This shall be purely descriptive in nature and cross-sectional by
type. The cross-sectional approach through field study is viewed as
quite appropriate for this study as the sample elements will cut across
the market women, working class and housewives and other female
characters available in the novels.
1.6DEFINITION OF TERM
Gender discrimination: The systematic,
unfavourable treatment of individuals on the basis of their gender,
which denies them rights, opportunities or resources
Language: A means of communication among human beings
African literature: Different languages and various genres, ranging from oral literature to literature written in colonial language
Gender matters: Distinctive
patterns of ideas, beliefs, and norms which characterise the way of life
and relations of a society or group within a society
Culture: Culture is sometimes interpreted narrowly as ‘custom’ or ‘tradition’, and assumed to be natural and unchangeable.