Female Sexuality in Contemporary African Literature: From Achebe’s Things Fall Apart to Aidoo’s Changes

Abstract

Prior to the twenty-first century, sexuality was often shrouded in customary beliefs and practices that sought to make women ashamed of their sexuality. Female sexuality here is conceived in terms of, first, the woman’s awareness of her sexual desire and her striving to satisfy it. Second, as an active and independent personality, she has to recognize her potentialities and identify with her chosen sexual orientation. This study develops from the premise that female sexuality is a theme that has received minimal critical and creative attention in African literature, implying that an important aspect of womanhood has been overlooked or deliberately ignored in much of African literature. Thus, this paper examines the treatment of female sexuality by Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart and Ama Ata Aidoo in Changes: A Love Story as a way of establishing the viability or otherwise of this theme in the 21st century African literature.

LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 8(3), 112-121, 2011