Gender and Violence in Chinelo Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees

Abstract

Gender and violence are often recurring study interests in literary studies, and thus, there is a plethora of critical papers and research based on the subject matter. However, there has been no study of gender and violence in Chinelo Okparanta's Under the Udala Tree. This paper examines the concepts of gender, sex, and gender-based violence, and the events in Okparanta's text connected to the topic. Set during the Nigerian-Biafran civil war, Under the Udala Tree presents the coming-of-age story of Ijeoma as she deals with the abuses inflicted on her by the war and her patriarchal culture.