Feminist Ethos and Regional Influence A Study of Buchi Emechetas Double Yoke and Lola Shoneyins The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wives

Abstract

This paper attempted a comparative and contrastive study of the Feminist Ethos of Buchi Emecheta in Double Yoke and Lola Shoneyin in The  Secret  Lives  of  Baba  Segi’s  Wives. Although both writers are feminists of Nigerian origin,  their  ideological  leanings,  as  this  paper  argued,  were  largely  influenced  by  their  region  of residence rather than their place of origin. Although Emecheta had, on several occasions, denied the fact of her being a radical  feminist, this paper attempted to produce plausible evidences that portrayed her  in that light. This was done by combining both formalism and feminism as the critical tools for the analysis of the selected works. This method did not only bring out the radicalism of Buchi Emecheta as a diasporic writer but also the liberality  of  Lola  Shoneyin.  This  paper  attempted  a  cursory  but  diachronic  look  at  feminist  ideology  as  a response to male patriarchy to provide an enabling ground for categorizing Buchi Emecheta and Lola Shoneyin into the feminist ideological leanings reflected in their novels. The paper concluded that feminists, irrespective of their view points, were contributory to the same character traits they criticized in their male counterpart. KEY  WORDS:  Feminist  Ethos,  Radical  Feminism,  Liberal  Feminism,  Regional  Influence,  Ideology, Emecheta, Shoneyin