Breaking Patriachal Chains in Africa and the Diaspora: A Comparative Analysis of Efuru and The Colour Purple

Abstract

In the introduction of her book, The New Feminist Critism, Elaine Showalter makes the necessary clarification that feminist criticism should not be the exclusive domain of women. Among other things, this article is intended to diversify feminist criticism with a male contribution. It investigates the portrayal of women in Efuru and The Color Purple as they struggle from oppressive patriarchial systems. The choice of these well-known texts from Africa and America is deliberate and it it meant to highlight the linkages between African and African American literatures. A discussion of literary linkages between the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora is a way of reinforcing the bonds that tie them. Flora Nwapa, the author of Efuru and Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple are shown to be different people writing from different cultural backgrounds. Their thinking and attitudes have been shaped by different social and historical circumstances. Inevitably, therefore, their works are quite different in both formal and content. Nevertheless, the two authors have used feminist ideas, each in her own way, to produce gendered text that are a major contribution in the universal struggle for the liberation of women. After reading through their works, one makes the conclusion that Nwapa and Walker are not only talented writers but also courageous women who deal with the socially unpalatable theme of the suffering of women in the hands of the violent, callous and sexually-perverted men.