Feminism and Modernity in Anglophone African Women's Writing: A 21st-Century Global Context

This book re-reads Anglophone African women's writing from a transnational and trans-historical feminist perspective, highlighting the similarities between womens struggles worldwide and the feminist imagination it produced. It argues that African feminism has undergone a major epistemic shift from culturally exclusive to relational feminism, focusing on the female body as the prime site of oppression and freedom.

Format: Hardback
Length: 246 pages
Publication date: 29 July 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This groundbreaking book offers a fresh and innovative approach to the study of Anglophone African women's writing,re-reading it from a transnational and trans-historical feminist perspective,rather than the traditional postcolonial lens. By adopting a comparative framework, the author sheds light on patterns across time and space, positioning this writing as an integral part of women's literary history.

The author delves into the ways in which invocations of tradition have been employed by patriarchy worldwide to oppress women, drawing similarities between women's struggles across different regions and eras. Through the lens of feminist imagination, the author highlights the transformative power of women's activism and resistance.

In the 21st century, African feminism has undergone a significant epistemic shift, moving from a culturally exclusive to a relational feminism that conceptualizes African femininity through the risky opening of oneself to otherness, transculturation, and translation. Contemporary African women writers, like their Western counterparts in the 1960s, are focusing on the female body as the primary site of women's oppression and freedom, re-imagining feminism as a demand for universal human rights and actively shaping global discourses on gender, modernity, and democracy.

This book will appeal to students and researchers of African literature, feminist literary scholars, and comparatists in general, offering a valuable contribution to the field. Its interdisciplinary approach and rich analysis provide a fresh perspective on the complexities of African women's writing and its role in shaping feminist discourse globally.

Weight: 630g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032187273