From the edge to the world: African modern women's literature map

In recent years, African literature has risen globally, and more and more countries and regions have begun to invest in the ancient and new land in Africa. With this trend, the rise of African female writers. This article divides African modern women's literature into three stages, and tries to examine various themes and narrative modes that appear in female writers during a specific historical period. Although the quantity and prestige cannot be compared with the male writers of the same generation, African female writers have portrayed a large number of female characters with completely different characters with men in men, and provided us with an indispensable perspective to understand African literature and culture.

"Edge" female writer: identity and self -definition

Since African literature entered a modernization stage in the 1930s, African literary criticism has gradually formed a literary tradition dominated by men: rejection or ignoring the existence of female writers. Take the classic literary criticism published in 1962, published by Gerald Moore, "Seven African Writers" as an example. The book is published, and the name has become "Twelve African Writers", which is still selected without female writers. African female writers "The selection concentration of duplicateness in the art, in the research around men, seemed unknown, rarely discussed, and rarely had them." In the next volume, the editor -in -chief of Taju Mora Oranang, Atto Queson, translated by Yao Feng, East China Normal University Press, 2019).

In 1966, the first long novel created by African female writers in English -Kenya female writer Grace Ogot (1930-2015) "The Promised Land" was published by East Africa Publishing Company Publishing; in the same year, the English novel "EFURU", an English novel "Flora Nwapa (1931-1993), was published by African Publishing Corporation. "The first work created by female writers in the series. These two "firsts" have the pioneering and epoch -making significance, marking the official ascension of African female writers.

Represented by Ogut and Evapo, they did not get enough attention before. The batch of female writers who were recognized until the late 1960s were considered shaped by African women's writing. Their works have introduced many topics related to women's experience, and these themes are extremely lacking in the works of male writers. From the perspective of women, they introduced the traditional and culture of Africa, showing the risk of how African women rose to become victims of patriarchal ideology, and strived for self -definition by transcending the prescribed gender roles.

Ogart, known as the "mother of Kenya Literature", revealed the prejudice of gender discrimination in male literature traditions in his masterpiece "Promotional Land", criticized colonialism and local patriarchy systems, and created space for female subjects. The protagonist of the novel Nia Polly is a bride, from a female -centered hometown village, to a strange environment centered on her husband, and has experienced alienation, misalignment and displacement. The marriage deprives her of her autonomy -a single woman is still free, but the married woman is only a tool for her husband's will. She can only improve her status by flexibly obeying her husband. Although Nia Polk meets the norms of "traditional wives" in some aspects, she also breaks away from tradition. In the game with her husband, she uses her wisdom to win a broader space for self -survival.

Eva Papa realizes the impact of mythological beliefs on women's survival, and uses the oral tradition of West Africa Igbo in the novel to create stories. In "Everla", she demonstrated how the traditional norms limit the free choice of women and how women defined themselves: the heroine Everla facing the fate of shame because of unable to have birth. Because in this society, the mother is considered the essence of women, and women who cannot have children are worthless. But Everla decided to define himself in other ways. When the marriage broke, she left her husband and became Princess Womani -a priest who saved human beings. In other novels of Evapo, you can also clearly see her concept. Mother, savvy female chiefs and priests are the existence of daily life. This is the main body of African women she redefined. In the "IDU" (IDU, 1970), after the heroine Idu lost her husband, she did not obey the brother who married the husband to her husband, but chose to die; Amaka also rejected the identity of marriage and mother, even if he fell into the dust, he must struggle to find his independent and fulfilling life. It is through writing and shaping a new female character that the aggressive African female writer shows the personality and attitude of a unique African woman.

Ghana's Ama Ata Aidoo also belongs to the first generation of female writers, although its works have only paid attention later. Similar to the female writers in the same generation, Ai Duo did not publicly call for the overthrow of the patriarchal system in the work, but also described the experience and experience of women in the heavy male and female society, describing the survival strategy in this traditional system, as well as in addition to marriage and marriage and marriage and The way to self -define beyond fertility. In Aigo's most important novel "Change: A Love Story (1993), the heroine has a graduate degree and engaged in data analysis. He is a complete modern African woman. She decided to divorce her husband after she endured a wedding rape. However, in the end, she chose to enter a polygamy family, and she thought that this relationship could make her free from interference with the responsibility of marriage and brought her freedom. The work shows the dilemma of how African women walk in the traditional and modern dual -opposed midstream. Enter the field of vision: Challenge the patriarchal system with African feminism

From the mid -1970s, until the late 20th century, the writing of African female writers entered a new stage. Women's writing really entered her own field and was accepted. The works of female writers began to be recognized by the academic community. Among the vision of many people.

Nigerian Ibo writer Buchi Emecheta is one of the representatives of the second generation of African female writers. Most of her novels involve the theme of motherhood, marriage and family. Difficulties and inequality, and the tension between tradition and modernity, have internal feminist colors. In African society, mothers and marriage are an important symbol of women's identity. Emecheta did not refuse these two identities, but questioned the identity of mothers and women. For example, in The Brid Pride Pride (1976), Akna is very happy in marriage, and Gwin Delin does not blame her mother's identity. Marriage and mother are their choices, so it does not affect the affect Their personal identity. In The Jos of Motherhood (1979), the existence of women is based on the ability of childbirth, especially for boys. The heroine Eungu Yige even said, "Except for my mother, I don't know how to be other characters." The ability to give birth to a child consolidates her women's identity and as a social producer. However, even if she gave birth to eight children, she still lived in the poverty and eventually died lonely on the side of the road. Emecita questioned here that the patriarchal system has tied women's identity with her mother's identity, which brings a huge burden on women because they must fulfill such a gender role to be accepted by society.

Emecheta's novel not only depicts the ugly side of the traditional patriarchy, but also shows how women should cheer up and break free from this male -dominated ideology. She believes that the most important way is to through education, I believe that education has huge power in changing women's social life. For example, the two semi-autobiographical novels in the "In the Ditch (1973) and" Second Citizen "(1974) described the poor African women living in London, respectively. The independence and rights of the top are finally successful through learning and writing -not only reveal the status quo, but also try to question and criticize the social system that suppresses them by creating a strong female role. In real life, writing has also become a way to get rid of marriage abuse and obtain economic independence and freedom.

Another Senegalese Ba (1929-1981), the same feminist feelings as Emecheta, wrote in French. Bab himself has also experienced prejudice faced by many women: competing for women's education with traditional grandparents; after divorcing a famous politician, she was left at home to take care of nine children. She will vent her anger of the patriarchal structure that defines her life and the imprisonment of Islamic customs in Senegal society, and to vent her semi -autobiographical body book letter "A Long letter" (1979). The work tells the friendship between two female friends who have experienced religious and patriarchal cultural oppression. Eshato left her husband and left a provocative letter; on the contrary, Lamaruraya adopted the posture of a traditional African wife and obeyed her husband to marry a second wife. Despite this, the husband abandoned it. She and her children, Lamaruraya, was hit, but received a lot of support from Eshatu. Another Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021) with an Islamic cultural background was also discussed in his novel "Woman at Point Zero" (1977). The problem, especially the marriage system and women's circumstances to their bondage and restraint.

It should be pointed out that although women's issues are also written and women's rights and interests, many African female writers do not agree with the terms and goals of Western feminism, and also refuse to be identified as feminist writers. In their opinion, feminism is a Western ideology that is brought to Africa by European colonists and imposed to the African people. They are more willing to agree with feminism that adapt to African social culture- "negotiation feminism", that is, challenging the patriarchal system through certain negotiation and compromise, which has also become the most common strategy of female characters in African female writers. In addition to criticizing the ideology of restricting women in society, some writers are concerned about political issues. From the perspective of regional differences, female writers in West Africa and East Africa pay more attention to the resistance of traditional patriarchal systems that hinder women's freedom and empowerment, and South African female writers are more concerned about the political oppression of black women. South African writer BesSie Head (1937-1986) in the "A Question of Power (1974), it records the psychological struggle of the individual's political ideology -race isolation -the psychological struggle. It revealed multiple oppression of women in South Africa; Zimbabwe writer Yvonne Vera (1964-2005) created a series of historical novels with female characters as the protagonist, such as Nehanda (1993) , "Without A name (1994)," Under The Tongue (1996), "Butterfly Burning (1998), etc., linked the colonial history of the country with the struggle of women's struggle with women. , Portrayed the glorious heroic image of women who got rid of the identity and family in national liberation and reconstruction.

Unlike the first generation of female writers, the second -generation female writers are more positive and clearly dealing with gender -related issues, and actively promote the improvement of women's social status in Africa. They use their writing to fight against the disadvantages of society and cause gender equality dialogue. A small number of writers even surpassed gender issues, and put the focus of writing on issues such as political issues and the survival status of women in post -colonial countries.

Towards the world: immigration and stream scattered writing

The third -generation female writers who appeared in the 21st century, such as Chimamanda Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Noviolet Bulaway, Chika Unigweer, Chika University, ) Wait for the younger generation of African female writers. Unlike the predecessors, their theme focuses on immigration and disappearance.

Because there are not many opportunities in the African continent, many people use Western countries as their hope of getting better lives, and multinational immigrants have led many Africans to live in Europe and the United States. Therefore, the third -generation African female writers are surpassing the scope of the African continent. It is committed to describing the experience of Africans in global space, as well as many issues including immigration, racial differences, identity reconstruction, and cultural adaptation. For example, the two novels of the two novels involved the influence of the post -colonial system because of these systems Many desperate Africans fled to the West and looked for better survival opportunities. The female characters in the novel Effes and Dallin got rid of the poverty and limited opportunities of African nation countries, and came to the United States to seek better development, but they had to face the race and identity of transnational life. In order to seek a sense of cultural tolerance and belonging, African immigrants must continuously experience and overcome this feeling of displacement and not anywhere. "We Need a New Name" reveals how the first generation of elderly African immigrants adapt to the new cultural environment and the pain in the process. Uncle Kou Zhou, one of the characters in the novel, is the subject of cultural alienation because he cannot adapt to the new environment and experiences emotional and psychological trauma.

The third -generation female writer did not clearly deal with gender -related themes. In their works, roles that conform to gender norms in fertility, maternity and marriage are not prominent. Even when discussing marriage, such as "We Need a New Name", a female character Fostera does not follow strict traditional gender characters, such as cooking and meeting the needs of her husband. The female characters in their works are more independent, and can freely define their own personality and pursue self -realization. The growth and life experience of the two writers of Blavo and Adicy show that African women can become a successful promoter of their lives, instead of obeying the deep -rooted gender specifications and order.

Other writers have discussed the complexity of sexuality, such as Hannah Khoury, a Sierra Leion writer, in "So Pretty An African" (2003) to emphasize Sierra Leone's emphasis on Sierra Leine. The sober consciousness of female immigrants on the patriarchal system, as well as how this consciousness determines the economic independence of women. On the one hand, this consciousness determines her behavior and actions, and on the other hand, she also determines her anxiety and fragility. Women's sexual behavior is the power of life, but it also reflects the exploitation and oppression of the patriarchal system. Similarly, Nigwin also seized the fragility of women's bodies in the Nigerian Literature Award in "On Black Sisters' Street (2011, won the Nigerian Literature Award). She recorded the prostitution of four African women. In order to find a better future, they immigrated to Belgium. Each character has experienced traumatic childhood. Prostitution is a voluntary and autonomous choice in order to get better economic opportunities. However, when one of the girls Sissi was murdered, their dream of life was broken and became a nightmare. Due to the outstanding achievements in writing, Unigwin was hired as assistant professors of the Bondman Church in 2016 by the University of Brown University in the United States, and in 2017 as a judge of Manbuk International Literature Award. From the works of the first to the third generation of African female writers, it can be seen that African female writers are the main promoters of African social reforms. Self -define and try to give multiple paths to solve this problem; they do not avoid condemning and criticizing various traditional customs and patriarchal systems that suppress women's development in Africa society, as well as national and ethnic issues related to this; they are actively active The ground was written in the experience and situation of African dispersion in the post -colonial era, so as to depict the future of African women in a wider space.

(This article is the issue of "Chinese Literature in Africa and Africa Literature in China" (CAI-J2021-05) in 2021)

(The author is the editor of "World Literature" magazine)

Source: China Social Science Network-Journal of Social Sciences of China

Author: Yu Jingyuan

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