Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman

The Stillborn (1984) is Zaynab Alkali’s debut novel that captured the attention of many researchers and critics alike. The Virtuous Woman (1986) that arrived two years after has not attracted much critical attention. Alkali is a prominent Nigerian female writer, whose concern is always the place of...

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Main Authors: Muhammad, Usman Ambu, Mani, Manimangai, Talif, Rosli, Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2017
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56295/1/Nego-feminism%20as%20a%20bridge%20between%20patriarchy%20and%20matriarchy%20in%20Zaynab%20Alkali%27s%20The%20Stillborn%20and%20The%20Virtuous%20Woman.pdf
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author Muhammad, Usman Ambu
Mani, Manimangai
Talif, Rosli
Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
author_facet Muhammad, Usman Ambu
Mani, Manimangai
Talif, Rosli
Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
author_sort Muhammad, Usman Ambu
collection UPM
description The Stillborn (1984) is Zaynab Alkali’s debut novel that captured the attention of many researchers and critics alike. The Virtuous Woman (1986) that arrived two years after has not attracted much critical attention. Alkali is a prominent Nigerian female writer, whose concern is always the place of a girl-child in a patriarchal African society. Literary reviews on the texts have highlighted concept of women oppression and their emancipation (Okereke, 1996, Razinatu and Kurfi, 2011). Alkali believes that, it is only education that can play the role of emancipation of a girl-child in a patriarchal society. In The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman, Alkali attempts to prove this by portraying a female character (Li) in The Stillborn who triumphs at the end both educationally and economically. And in The Virtuous Woman three female characters are portrayed as successful ones educationally. But in so doing, Alkali seems to alienate the male characters in the two texts. The objective of this paper is to examine the aspect that is given less attention hitherto – the female dominance over the male character(s) as portrayed by the author. It also uses textual analysis as the methodology in analyzing the two texts. Nego-feminism is the theory to be used as conceptualised and theorised by Obioma Nnaemeka (1999). It is a new feminist theory which is hoped to be used as a negotiating tool between patriarchy and matriarchy. The expected finding hopes to create a better and balanced society that accommodates the sexes.
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spelling upm.eprints-562952017-07-31T05:18:34Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56295/ Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman Muhammad, Usman Ambu Mani, Manimangai Talif, Rosli Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur The Stillborn (1984) is Zaynab Alkali’s debut novel that captured the attention of many researchers and critics alike. The Virtuous Woman (1986) that arrived two years after has not attracted much critical attention. Alkali is a prominent Nigerian female writer, whose concern is always the place of a girl-child in a patriarchal African society. Literary reviews on the texts have highlighted concept of women oppression and their emancipation (Okereke, 1996, Razinatu and Kurfi, 2011). Alkali believes that, it is only education that can play the role of emancipation of a girl-child in a patriarchal society. In The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman, Alkali attempts to prove this by portraying a female character (Li) in The Stillborn who triumphs at the end both educationally and economically. And in The Virtuous Woman three female characters are portrayed as successful ones educationally. But in so doing, Alkali seems to alienate the male characters in the two texts. The objective of this paper is to examine the aspect that is given less attention hitherto – the female dominance over the male character(s) as portrayed by the author. It also uses textual analysis as the methodology in analyzing the two texts. Nego-feminism is the theory to be used as conceptualised and theorised by Obioma Nnaemeka (1999). It is a new feminist theory which is hoped to be used as a negotiating tool between patriarchy and matriarchy. The expected finding hopes to create a better and balanced society that accommodates the sexes. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2017 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56295/1/Nego-feminism%20as%20a%20bridge%20between%20patriarchy%20and%20matriarchy%20in%20Zaynab%20Alkali%27s%20The%20Stillborn%20and%20The%20Virtuous%20Woman.pdf Muhammad, Usman Ambu and Mani, Manimangai and Talif, Rosli and Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur (2017) Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman. Journal of Language and Communication, 4 (1). pp. 125-133. ISSN 2289-649X http://www.fbmk.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/20170425152835JLC_MARCH_2017.pdf
spellingShingle Muhammad, Usman Ambu
Mani, Manimangai
Talif, Rosli
Jujar Singh, Hardev Kaur
Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman
title Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman
title_full Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman
title_fullStr Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman
title_full_unstemmed Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman
title_short Nego-feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn and The Virtuous Woman
title_sort nego feminism as a bridge between patriarchy and matriarchy in zaynab alkali s the stillborn and the virtuous woman
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56295/1/Nego-feminism%20as%20a%20bridge%20between%20patriarchy%20and%20matriarchy%20in%20Zaynab%20Alkali%27s%20The%20Stillborn%20and%20The%20Virtuous%20Woman.pdf
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