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The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives
This dissertation considers three novels by Nigerian women writers, which grapple with patriarchy within the context of polygamous marriage. These novels are The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives (2010) by Lola Shoneyin, Stay with Me (2017) by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, and The Joys of Motherhood (1979) by...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of English Language and Literature
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613174777249792 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Gaffoor, Zainab |
| author2 | Boswell, Barbara-Anne |
| author_browse | Boswell, Barbara-Anne Gaffoor, Zainab |
| author_facet | Boswell, Barbara-Anne Gaffoor, Zainab |
| author_sort | Gaffoor, Zainab |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This dissertation considers three novels by Nigerian women writers, which grapple with patriarchy within the context of polygamous marriage. These novels are The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives (2010) by Lola Shoneyin, Stay with Me (2017) by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, and The Joys of Motherhood (1979) by Buchi Emecheta. This dissertation examines the ways in which Shoneyin, Adébáyọ̀ and Emecheta demonstrate African feminist theory and consciousness in writing women characters in these novels. These authors not only expose patriarchal systems but also write women characters in ways that distance them from past, static, and stereotypical representations by male writers of African literature. This recasting of women characters gives the women characters a sense of agency, room for potential friendships and releases them from the pressures of being blamed for infertility. Shoneyin, Adébáyọ̀ and Emecheta expose how patriarchal rule in these novels manifests in more than one way. Traditionally, this rule comes from the man or husband; however, it is also enacted by the other wives in the marriages represented, as well as the mothers of patriarchs. Since African feminism concerns the liberation of women, it is vital that polygamous marriage narratives such as these are investigated as these kinds of marriages are often considered patriarchal. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41576 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:56.645Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of English Language and Literature |
| publisherStr | Department of English Language and Literature |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41576 The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives Gaffoor, Zainab Boswell, Barbara-Anne English Literary Studies This dissertation considers three novels by Nigerian women writers, which grapple with patriarchy within the context of polygamous marriage. These novels are The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives (2010) by Lola Shoneyin, Stay with Me (2017) by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, and The Joys of Motherhood (1979) by Buchi Emecheta. This dissertation examines the ways in which Shoneyin, Adébáyọ̀ and Emecheta demonstrate African feminist theory and consciousness in writing women characters in these novels. These authors not only expose patriarchal systems but also write women characters in ways that distance them from past, static, and stereotypical representations by male writers of African literature. This recasting of women characters gives the women characters a sense of agency, room for potential friendships and releases them from the pressures of being blamed for infertility. Shoneyin, Adébáyọ̀ and Emecheta expose how patriarchal rule in these novels manifests in more than one way. Traditionally, this rule comes from the man or husband; however, it is also enacted by the other wives in the marriages represented, as well as the mothers of patriarchs. Since African feminism concerns the liberation of women, it is vital that polygamous marriage narratives such as these are investigated as these kinds of marriages are often considered patriarchal. 2025-08-14T10:46:24Z 2025-08-14T10:46:24Z 2025 2025-08-05T14:20:04Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41576 en eng application/pdf Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | English Literary Studies Gaffoor, Zainab The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives |
| title_full | The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives |
| title_fullStr | The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives |
| title_short | The Secret Lives of Polygamous Wives: African Feminist Consciousness and Writing in Selected Nigerian Polygamous Narratives |
| title_sort | secret lives of polygamous wives african feminist consciousness and writing in selected nigerian polygamous narratives |
| topic | English Literary Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41576 |
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