Abstract:
Over the years, feminist writers have achieved a convergence that identifies the typologies of oppression against women. The contexts of such deprivations have narrowed down to the domestic space and the diaspora, with the scale of success in favour of novels set in diaspora spaces. This article examines the intersection between space, gender oppression, and institutional mediation in selected novels by Nigerian female novelists. Although few novelists, such as Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo in Children of the Eagle (2002), achieved a relative success in their contextualisation of women’s struggles within the domestic space, many writers, such as Buchi Emecheta in Second Class Citizens (1974) and Yejide Kilanko in Chasing Butterflies (2018) and A Good Name (2021), have situated the ordeal of the African women within the diaspora landscape. The article is a qualitative study that draws on Alice Walker’s Womanist theory to inform its conversation on the prevalence of gender deprivations in selected Nigerian novels. After chronicling the typologies of gender novels in Nigeria and the identification of the marriage context as the habitat for gender deprivations, the article submits that most novels that use the domestic setting rarely succeed in their commitment due to entrenched patriarchy. This is in sharp contrast to novels that use diaspora settings where women can overcome similar crises on account of identified resources. The conclusion of the article is a call that awakens the consciousness, in the homeland, to the urgent need of establishing and activating the institutions that are sensitive to women’s rights and freedom. The article contributes to feminist literary scholarship by foregrounding space as a critical determinant in narratives of gender freedom and by highlighting the urgent need for responsive institutions within traditional societies.
Keywords: diaspora, gender, oppression, radical, resistance, traditional
DOI: www.doi.org/10.36349/tjllc.2026.v05i01.019
author/Afolayan, Kayode Niyi & Oluwatoyin, Adam Olamilekan
journal/Tasambo JLLC 5(1) | February 2026 |
