There is No Such Thing as Maternal Instinct: Unwanted Pregnancy, Infanticide, and Child Abandonment in Sade Adeniran’s Imagine This (2008) and Fatou Diome’s The Belly of the Atlantic (2003)

Автори:
Страници: 130-140
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/WAZX6304

Резюме:

Navigating the boundaries between “woman” and “mother,” this study examines the complex relationship between womanhood and motherhood, particularly within the diverse socio-cultural milieus of Africa. It draws on Adrianne Rich’s conceptualisation of motherhood, which makes a critical distinction between motherhood as a social institution shaped by patriarchal ideology and mothering as a profoundly introspective feeling and experience. Building on this distinction, this study endeavours to investigate how contemporary fiction authored by African women actively challenges and demystifies the pervasive notion that mothers are inherently maternal. This aspect is exemplified in literary works such as Imagine This (2008) by the Nigerian Sade Adeniran and The Belly of the Atlantic (2003) by the Senegalese Fatou Diome. Both texts challenge entrenched, dichotomous gendered expectations within African societies, prompting a revaluation of motherhood as a mindset shaped by personal choices and social context, rather than an intrinsic, innate trait. Utilising a comparative approach, the analysis thus highlights how both French and English-speaking women from sub-Saharan Africa engage with sensitive and often taboo issues, including unwanted pregnancy, infanticide, and child abandonment, to dismantle idealised perceptions of maternal figures and roles.

Ключови думи:

motherhood, unwanted pregnancy, child abandonment, infanticide, sub-Saharan African women writers.

Изтегляне