Legacies of Passed African Women Writers: Matrix of Creativity and Power proffers varied perspectives of the invaluable contributions of ten deceased African writers from all across Africa who have cleared the path to a vibrant African feminist arena. The dynamics of change gleaned from both their textual and contextual concerns unarguably set the pace for contemporary African women writers who have striven to follow in the footsteps of their literary mothers as well as their oral foremothers. This book, edited by Helen Chukwuma and Chioma Carol Opara, shows the collective testament of ample creativity and power generated by these departed heroes: Flora Nwapa, Mariama Ba, Grace Ogot, Zulu Sofola, Bessie Head, Buchi Emecheta, Nawal El Saadawi, Assia Djebar, Yvonne Vera, and Nadine Gordimer. These chapters revolve around the positive impact of the celebrated writers on creative writing, theoretical formulations, and socio-cultural change. The contributors argue that these corpus of works have illuminated creativity rooted in power, vision, and freedom.
Helen O. Chukwuma is professor of English in the Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages at Jackson State University. Chioma Carol Opara is professor of English and comparative literature and former director of the Foundation Studies Unit at Rivers State University.
Acknowledgements Introduction: The Resounding Gongs of Fallen Female Heroes Chioma Carol Opara and Helen O. Chukwuma Part 1: Affirming the Charismatic Pathfinder: Flora Nwapa "Flora Nwapa: The One Who Dwells in Wealth" Anthonia Kalu Uwa Umunwanyi, Uwa Oma: Flora Nwapa and Women's History and Culture in Efuru and Idu Akachi Adimora- Ezeigbo Flora Nwapa, Feminism and the Burden of History Kemi Wale- Olaitan Flora Nwapa's Efuru: The Personified Goddess Anthonia Adadevoh Forces and Flaws in Flora Nwapa's Efuru and Idu Perp St. Remy Asiegbu Part 2: Orality and Rootedness in Culture and Tradition Wolof Taasu Genre as Narrative Device in Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter Ada Uzoamaka Azodo Non-Verbalized Communication of True Love in Traditional Dholuo in Grace Ogot's The Promised Land Eunita Ochola Validation of Culture: A Re-reading of 'Zulu Sofola's Wedlock of the Gods and King Emene: A Tragedy of Rebellion. Nkem Okoh Part 3: Interrogating Identity, Autonomy, and History Archetypes of the Mother and the Scapegoat in Grace Ogot's Fiction Onyemaechi Udumukwu Bessie Head: World Writer from Africa Mary S. Lederer Narrating Hybridity: The Synthesis of Tradition and Modernity in Buchi Emecheta's Double Yoke Solomon Omatsola Azumurana Depravity and Mental Torture in Nawal El Saadawi's Two Women inOne and Woman at PointZero Queen Albert and Onyemechi Nwaeke Resurrecting Women from the Margins of History: Feminist Synergy in Selected Works by Assia Djebar Rose A. Sackeyfio Part 4: Confronting Containment with Resistance and Freedom From Passivity to Defiance: The Figure of Woman in Yvonne Vera's Novels Blessing Diala-Ogamba The Buchi Emecheta Phenomenon Austine Amanze Akpuda Twin Kernels in One Pod: Naming of Nawal and Firdaus in El Saadawi's A Daughter of Isis and Woman at Point Zero Chinyere Grace Okafor Women,Tradition and Resistance in Zulu Sofola's Wedlock of the Gods Irene Isoken Salami-Agunloye Nadine Gordimer's Multiplex Legacy Ikeogu Oke Part 5: Dynamics of Power and Narrative Voice Language Use in the Discourse of Otherness in Bessie Head's Maru Omeh Obasi Ngwoke and Okwudiri Anasiudu Synthesis of Binaries: The Mediating Voice in Mariama Ba's Novels Chioma Carol Opara Epilogue: Un Cri de Coeur Marie Umeh
"Containing richly layered tributes to ten pioneering African women writers, this book offers inspiration to the next generation of authors and scholars. The contributors are influential literary critics who remind us not to forget the oral genres, humor, and spirit of resistance that inspired the earliest women writers, and alert us to the ongoing impact of these foundational authors on the shape of African literature today." -- Stephanie Newell, Yale University "Helen Chukwuma and Chioma Carol Opara brought together an impressive array of African literary scholars, all of whom write with deep insight and theoretical adriotness on the heritage of African women authors in general and ten selected departed writers in particular. With this remarkable anthology of scholarship, these writers' pioneering voices are firmly established in the canon of African Letters. Legacies of Departed African Women Writers: Matrix of Creativity and Power is indispensable for contemporary African literary studies." -- Hein Willemse, University of Pretoria
