UNDERSTANDING GENDER DISCOURSE IN AFRICA THROUGH AFRICAN LITERATURE: A PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION

Abstract

In Africa today, a critical discussion of gender is essential because many of the fundamental issues which affect African societies arise out of the dissonance and mishandling of gender issues. This is because gender is a nodal point bringing together all aspects of human relations and social interactions ranging from family arrangement to ideas and values endorsed by society, political participation, and economic involvement. This means that the mishandling of gender issues bears serious implications for the health of Africa and as such focus must be on addressing the root causes of gender inequality. It is for this reason that philosophy and literature are employed as methodological tools. The activities of people in literature provide examples of a wide range of issues that deepen understanding as well as capture the root causes and broader consequences of unequal arrangement in gender relationships. This study attempts to integrate an analysis of gender discourse with an exploration of Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah, Adichie's Purple Hibiscus and Ngugi's Wizard of the Crow so as to probe the many dimensions of gender issues. The importance of a philosophical reflection is to extract the ideas pertaining to gender contained in the literary texts under review and subject them to a rigorous analysis so as to find out their suitability or otherwise for the ordering of an equitable gendered society. The study concludes that proper handling of gender concerns can become the access through which Africa can utilise its full human potential.