THE CONCEPT OF FEMINISM IN BUCHI EMECHETA'S SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AND OKOYE IFEOMA'S BEHIND THE CLOUDS

1.1 Introduction

Feminism is a branch of social theory (autism) which symbolizes the struggle for participation of women in a literary world dominated by men. In the African society, feminism has been deployed through a hostile barrier as the African culture itself regards it with so much disdain due to its belief that female emancipation and empowerment would jettison the essence of manhood as well as the roles of women in their matrimonial homes.

Feminism is a world-wide ideology and political movement directed at changing the existing power relations between man and women. It is a social theory that highlights the inequalities in the male and female relationship in any society where patriarchal hegemony is practiced. Patriarch is an ideology that gives men confidence to subordinate the female or treat, the female as an inferior being, men in such society hide under guise of patriarchy to subjugate women by a system of sex role stereotyping to which they are subjected from the early age.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

The early feminist believed that the solution to women subjugation should come from a political movement since patriarchy is tagged an oppressive political system. Feminist movement emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe and America respectively. Before this time, women were regarded as the oppressed group. Women have contributed a great deal to industrial activities with the introduction of feminism. This is to say that women became members of the working class in labour market thus, paving way for new industries centres. A feminist concept therefore consists of taking interest in the life styles, activities and occupation of women both at home and in societal growth. Feminism believes that women have been denied their rights as human beings in a world ruled by men and that they need to be liberated from patriarchy. Thus, feminism as an ideology, according to Achufusi in feminist inclination of Flora Nwapa (1994:164), came about from the realization that a woman can never hope to have the proper recompense for her services until her usefulness and her success in life are not only demonstrated but fully understood and acknowledged.

However, woman quickly recognized the realities of their new situation and as the century wore on, became the focus of an emergent feminist movement. Pressure for the right to maintenance and custody in the event of divorce or separation began as early as the 1830s. The Governess Benevolent Institution was founded in 1843 and was followed by a long campaign to improve women’s education opportunities, a campaign to improve women’s education opportunities, a campaign which included, the founding of Queen’s and Bedford Colleges in 1869 and 1871 respectively: The first attempt by a woman to register as a medicalstudent was as early as 1856, and the first parliamentary Bill to give married women the right to own property was introduced in the same year in Britain, Patricia Stubbs (1920:3).

Feminism as an ideology later finds a fertile ground in Africa in the 1960’s. Obioma Nnemeka (1995:40) establishes the functional purpose of the discourse when she asserts that “it provides the opportunity of re-evaluating attitudes and misconception about women which have been buttressed all along both by African culture and misogynous traditions of European colonial masters”.

There are other African Feminist writers like Acholonu who believes that women should not be seen as objects to decorate the homes with, but they should be regarded as major contributors to the growth of the nation without really affecting their roles as mothers and wives at home. In her article titled; Buchi Emecheta (1988:62) Acholonu asserts that:

Women should no longer be decorative accessories, objects to be moved about and companion to be flattered or claimed with promises. They should see themselves as nations primary fundamental root from which all else grows and blossoms, women must be encouraged to take a keen interest in the destiny of the country.

She tends towards the modernist theory that admonishes women to reactualise themselves but not to the detriment of their homes and familiar. Other feminist writers who can be tagged modernists also extol the value of motherhood as they do not Jettison the essence of manhood as well as their matrimonial role in their attempt to empower the female with good education and good jobs.

Womanist perspective that portrays women as mothers and wives while at the same time agitating for gender equity helps to prepare the woman for the challenges a head. The female characters of such writers with this perspective are therefore created with equitable dynamic attributes to make them economically independent for self retrieval and survival in a patriarchal society, without affecting their feminine roles in the home.

However, each variety of feminism aims at addressing the different needs of women and each need tends toward an accommodationist principle which advocates joints effort across gender in solving human problems and in developing a solid society. This intention therefore brings the works of African female writers into the limelight such works become crucial key for self-realization and self-liberation processing in the African setup where patriarchy is utilize to subjugate and reduce women to second class citizens.

This concept of subjugation in a family is an African tradition that permits the male sex to exercise unlimited authority and emphasize male supremacy over the female. This is basically to bring impediment on the path of the woman’ in the realization of her potentials. Joseph (2001:10) asserts that; “In order to be almost inextricably successful in that chauvinist patriarchal and authoritarian setup, the society conditions and manipulates the economic and psychological being of a woman”. Thus, any woman who dabbles into the masculine roles is regarded in the society as being obstinate.

Modupe Kolawole (1998:60) perceives this hold that tradition has on some African women as being so tremendous that they will place cultural acquiescence over existing law designed to facilitate women’s mobilization. The subjugate concept is further enhanced in African society by the low level of educational attainment of women especially in the 1960s that is why major female characters in feminist writing are created to be educated to give them the boldness they need to challenge patriarchy. Also this authoritarian concepts is more pronounced in a society where Islamic injunction aids the practice of Purdoh which according to Fatima Adamu (1998:40) makes women “to be dependents, submissive and dominated by their husbands and their lives assumed to be restrictive and repressive”.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Concept of Feminism in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Okoye Ifeoma’s Behind the Clouds.

1.3 Statement of Problems

In the novel, female figures are multiply victimized by oppressive forces of race, gender and class, though one cannot refer to them as a homogeneous group. In Mohanty’s argument, Western feminists in their problematic discussions of Third World women, ignoring the diversity among women, consider all the native women as a homogeneous group. However, women have different identity, history, struggle and everyday lives. In fact, “women are not as a singular monolithic subject. Even when they share the same culture, they are still different” (Emecheta, 2011, p. 17).

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Concept of Feminism in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Okoye Ifeoma’s Behind the Clouds. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine how Buchi Emecheta and Ifeoma Okoye two African feminist writers used their female characters in the novels to portray;
2. To depict how women were able to endure the struggles and challenges imposed upon them in the male domineering society and how they came out of it, and were able to challenge women to stop allowing themselves to be treated anyhow by men; and
3. To assess Buchi Emecheta’s contribution in her Novel Second Class Citizen and how she has achieved her goals. Also Ifeoma Okeye’s Behind the Cloud will also be treated with focus on how she achieved her own feminist goals.

1.5 Justification of the Study

This study is embarked upon because though it is believed that women are now being given a fair hearing in the society. Feminism is yet to be embraced as an equal work on the Nigeria Literary Scene. In reaction, a critical study will be carried out on the two fore mentioned texts bringing out the feminist features as observed in the text and to make women see the light of their freedom.

Therefore, this study is meant to contribute its own quota to knowledge as it highlights the means to self-actualization in any patriarchy society.

1.6 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Concept of Feminism. This research will only be limited to the struggle for survival by the female character in the works of Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Ifeoma Okoye’s Behind the Clouds.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).

1.8 Methodology

The major source for the material in the writing of this project work will be restricted to the library and the internet due to the inability of conducting a private interview with the novelists.

1.9 Biographical Notes on Buchi Emecheta

Buchi Emecheta was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She was born of Ibuza heritage. She is a Nigerian writer with a B.Sc degree. She attended Methodist Girls High School, Yaba Lagos in Nigeria and University of London U. K. She was appointed Senior Research Fellow, Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria in 1980.

A member of Art Council of Great Britain, member of Advisory Council, Home Secretary on Race and Equity, London, U.K. Her awards include Best black writer in Britain, 1978: Jock Campbell awards, 1979, Daughter of Mark Twain, an American literature award.

She has many publications to her credit, they include the following:- In the Ditch published in 1972, Second Class Citizen (1974), The Slave Girls (1976), the Joys of Motherhood (1979), Destination Biafra (1982) her auto biography, Head above Water (1986) and many others.

She is a mother of five children. She is a sociology graduate of London University.

1.10 Biographical Note on Ifeoma Okoye

Ifeoma Okoye started her writing career when she discovered herself to have the potentials for writing. She also discovered that children did not have adequate books on children especially stories on Nigeria children, so she was surprised to write some children’s books which are The Adventures of Tolu, The Little Monkey, Eze goes to School, No School for Eze, Village Boy, Only Breed to Eze all of which were published in 1980.

Her first adult novel was men without ears she said she considered herself lucky to have got a publisher for the book which was published in 1984. Her second Novel Behind the Clouds was published in 1988. Her novel Men without Ears won the 1984 prize for the Association of Nigerian Authors best fiction of year.

She is happily married to famous husband, Mokwogo Okoye whom she respects and cherishes so much. They have a son and four daughters.