EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
EJLLS Publication
EJLLS| Title: | The Narrative Voice in Flora Nwapa’s Efuru |
| Author(s): | Nureni Oyewole FADARE |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the narrative voice in Flora Nwapa’s Efuru. Before the publication of Efuru, writing, especially novel, had been dominated by male writers in Africa until Flora Nwapa broke the jinx with her publication of Efuru in 1966. Efuru had been recognised as the first novel to be published in the United Kingdom by an African female writer. Most of the earlier works on Efuru focused on the representation of women and the theme of childlessness with little attention given to the narrative voice in the text. Therefore, this paper seeks to articulate some of the plights of women earlier cited by previous critics with particular emphasis on the narrative voice in the text. Aspects of Nnaemeka Obioma’s Nego-Feminism will be employed to analyse the text with a view to foregrounding how African women negotiate with and around patriarchy as reflected in the voice of the omniscient narrator. The study concludes that the omniscient narrator in the text advocates the fair treatment of women in African societies. . The novel also sets the pace for other emerging feminist African novel with respect to thematic thrusts and narrative voice. |
| Keywords: | Flora Nwapa, African Women, Nego-Feminism, Narrative Voice, patriarchy |
