WOMEN’S RELIGIOUS AND CROSS-CULTURAL BURDEN IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF AFRICAN FEMALE WRITERS

Abstract

Culture and religion have been the favourite subjects while discussing the problems ofAfrican women. Right from time, the culture of African societies operates within apatriarchal system that establishes norms and morals which favour the birth of a male childover the female. These norms defined the cultural value that guides the decision andbehaviour of the society against the relevance of a female child. While culture might beentirely patriarchal in nature, religion shapes this cultural system. Of course, the religion ofa people is defined through their cultural attributes. Culture and religion in this stead, havebeen the spearheads of the disadvantage women experience in African society. They are thefounts of male chauvinism, infringing the rights of women as members of society. This study,therefore, explores qualitative textual analysis method to showcase religion and culturalinfluence on African women against the problem relating to motherhood, womanhood,widowhood and polygamy in Buchi Emecheta’s “The Joys of Motherhood,” Mariama Ba’s“So Long a Letter,” and Grace Ukala’s “The Broken Bond.” It also contributes to theunderstanding of these complexities and highlights the importance of literature in sheddinglight on these issues. The paper further examines the feminist literary theory to understandthe intersection of gender, culture, and power in African women’s experiences and redefinewomen’s image within social and gender contexts.