| Abstract: |
This study explores womanism as portrayed in the works of Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes: A love story and
Amma Darko’s Faceless with a view to examining how contemporary African female writers reconstruct
the image and agency of women within African societies. This study is anchored on African womanist
theory which focuses on the African women’s gender-based orientation and experience in the context of
African worldview. Adopting a descriptive qualitative methodology, the research engages in close textual
analysis of the selected novels to identify recurring themes, character constructions, and narratives
strategies that articulate womanist ideals. This theoretical lens enables a culturally grounded interpretation
of female subjectivity beyond Western feminist paradigms. The texts studied show that women in Aidoo’s
and Darko’s works are portrayed as dynamic agents of social transformation who negotiate, resist, and
redefine their roles within complex socio-cultural environments. The study concludes that there is a
paradigm shift in the literary representation of womanhood in contemporary African literature. This shift is
characterized by evolving perspectives on gender roles, identity, and relationships, reflecting broader socio
cultural transformations. |
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
