The Womanist Viewpoint in Contemporary Female African Fiction: The Example of Adimora Akachi-Ezeigbo's The Last of the Strong Ones and Amma Darko's Not without Flowers

Abstract

This paper has as its focus the feminist theory as it is reflected in the works of contemporary female African novelists, with particular reference to Akachi Adimora- Ezeigbo, a prolific Nigerian novelist, and Amma Darko, an equally prolific Ghanian novelist, The paper presents an overview of the feminist theory generally, pointing out the various strands of feminism and placing emphasis on Womanism. Using one novel each from the select authors – Adimora-Ezeigbo's The Last of the Strong Ones and Amma Drako's Not without Flowers, the paper assesses the approach to gender issues adopted by both writers and concludes that the authors are womanists as they are particularly concerned with issues that affect women in the African society, and unlike the other more militant brands of feminism, these womanist writers do not advocate an antagonistic posture towards men but explore ways that men and women can work together for a better African society.