Adegoke Suliat Bamidele

African Literature, among many other definitions, is the body of imaginative works of Africans, who share the same ideology and cultural system. Amidst the flow of words, the steam of elegant diction, the bred-to-life imagination, and the storytelling narrative, Fiction represents the idiosyncrasy of African male and female writers. Literature as a culture, has given power to African writers to reflect the political, social, religious, and economic views in their society. It is well known that African literature has risen above standard and has prominently remained in the world of literature. Historically, encounters with colonisation, imperialism, aparthy, and racism also serve as an ink to the pen of our African writers. 

There is a Yoruba saying: “You cannot call the name of a king without adding pleasantries.” It is these African writers who have made African literature thrive in the literary world. As such, African writers should be applauded and be handed their royalty for their life-changing stories; stories that uphold the dignity of Africans. They write and speak boldly without fear that the truth they speak can provoke. It is their own bottled emotions; the will to speak and be heard that influences the plot structure, tone, and stylistics of their works. 

Africa as a society operates the patriarchal system. African literature, by definition, depicts African society’s way of life. This is also evident that over the years, male African writers have been dominating the literary scenes which has brought about the subtle competitiveness of male and female African writers. Back in the day, the literary scene was male-dominated but now the emergence of female African writers has brought disparity between male and female African writers. Male African writers are believed to be consistent and versatile, both in their themes and literary outputs. Female African writers, on the other hand, are reviewed as “predictable”. They address societal issues while they seek to change the narrative and portrayal of females as inferior to men in their works. Through the lens of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, gender inequality is portrayed, depicting the female characters as inferior to the male characters. This serves as a representation of the patriarchy in the Igbo society. The Gods Are Not to Blame by Ola Rotimi, Devil on the Cross by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, are works which explore the struggles of women in a patriarchal society.

In reaction to the poor portrayal of females by male African writers, female African writers decided to tell their stories by themselves. With the works of writers such as Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter, The Joy of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta, Violet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names, Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, the struggles of women in African patriarchal society are explored, often featuring themes such as marriage, feminism, gender inequality and  identity, among others.

While the contribution of female writers is commendable and notable in the literary world for holding their ground where patriarchy still reigns supreme, the female writers’ thematic occupation can not help but be noticed. The peculiarities of their themes are always centred on feminism, motherhood, marriage, divorce and other feminine-related issues. Yet, questions have been raised by female writers as to why male writers always receive more recognition when there are also females in the literary spotlight. Could the differing themes have been a cause of the lesser reception of the African female writers? Or could the cause of recurrence have been the patriarchal system of African society or perhaps the versatility of the Male writers in addressing the socio-political issues of Africa?

It is a fact that the literary world is male canonised and the wider audience of the male writers can be attributed to their complex themes. Wole Soyinka’s Alapata Apata  vividly portrays the exploitation of African resources, political insurgency, and illiteracy of the people, using Yoruba proverbs and Language to deliver the message intended. Also, In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the foremost Nigerian writer demonstrated how Christianity has come to stay in West African Nigeria, patriarchy, and the Igbo political system using the West African Igbo language to highlight these themes. Chrispin George of Sierra Leone, who was principally a poet, addressed political and socio-historical issues of their country using their works to sensitise and conscientise the people to form a new Africa. In like manner, Ben Okri’s An African Elegy centres on thematic issues such as traditional values, slavery, oppression, effects of colonialism, corruption, and post-colonial African life.

Comparing the reception and recognition of both writers over the years, African women writers have been greatly snubbed. Also, there are not many female African writers when compared to the number of male African writers we have on the main literary stage. There are only a few renowned female African writers who are prolific with their writing. In literary societies, awards, and organisations, their works are stereotyped, often overlooked, and most often considered too ‘domestic’ or ‘feminine’. Some of these writers overcome this regard and for the reception of their works, they have written under the male pseudonym. On the other hand, the reception of African male writers historically has more prominence with their books widely acknowledged, studied, reviewed, celebrated, and even adapted into plays and films. This unequal treatment has led to the anonymity of some African female writers.