Female Identity

The book focuses on the notion that women are subsumed and subjugated by male-devised social structures. The idea enables an investigation of the interplay of identity, gender and culture and in the light of recent debates by many critics about how women can be granted equality with men in all human relations. It has become imperative to examine the complex nature of identity in the context of perceptions of women in traditional and modern societies. Time and space (location and period) as well as concepts of enslavement, liberation, rebellion, negotiation, invisibility and complementarity are shown to be central cultural issues in the realization of female identity. Women’s narratives from different places and even eras of African histories/experiences, politics and cultures are critically analyzed to demonstrate women writers’ perspectives into identity and cultural determinants. Biology, linguistics, psychology and other cultural issues underscore the women writers’ narrative insights. The writers are shown to focus on communalism and complementarity in their representation of their thematic interests.