Buchi Emecheta is to date the most important female African writer. The extent of her output and the centrality of her subject matter-the role of women in present-day Africa-have put her in this position. In her fiction she shows courage in challenging...

Buchi Emecheta is to date the most important female African writer. The extent of her output and the centrality of her subject matter--the role of women in present-day Africa--have put her in this position. In her fiction she shows courage in...

A Nigerian-born author who has resided in England since 1962, Emecheta is best known for her novels that address the difficulties facing modern African women forced into traditional and subservient roles. Emecheta's heroines often challenge the...

Dr. Buchi Emecheta (born July 21 1944) in Nigeria is a prolific African novelist who has published over 20 books, plays and shorts, including the seminal works, Second-Class Citizen (1974), The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977) and The Joys of...

Buchi Emecheta's sardonically entitled novel The Joys of Motherhood engenders disparate readings. Does Emecheta intend to lance a scathing critique of the traditional role of motherhood in her native Nigeria? Does her protagonist's plight in colonial Africa carry a universal weight? Nigerian sociologist...

Much of the written scholarship on Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood (1979) focuses on the novel's critique of traditional Ibo society. (1) Specifically, such articles read Emecheta's text as a denunciation of the reproductive practices of the Ibo people, practices that do...

In the following essay, Solberg examines Emecheta's conflicted feminist perspective and the representation of African women and contemporary social themes in her fiction. According to Solberg, Emecheta's harsh criticism of male chauvinism is tempered by her respect for traditional African culture.

In the following essay, Ogunyemi provides an overview of Emecheta's literary career and the major themes in her novels.

In the following essay, Emecheta discusses her artistic concerns and feminist perspective. As Emecheta illustrates, African feminism differs significantly from Western feminism due to the distinct cultural values and sexual identity of African women.