Reconstruction of Women Identity and Vision of National Development in Zaynab Alkali’s The Descendants
Reconstruction of Women Identity and Vision of National Development in Zaynab Alkali’s The Descendants

Summary/Abstract: African female writers across the generations are interested in the reconstruction of the battered images of women associated with African male writers as well as creating a new road map through which women could contribute meaningfully to the development of their so- cieties. This paper focuses on the reconstruction of women identity in connection with their roles in national development using Zaynab Alkali’s The Descendants as a text of reference. The study examined various brands of feminism in African literary scholarships such as Womanism, Black Feminsm, Africana Feminism, Stiwanism, Motherism, Nego-feminism, Snail-sense feminism and Femalism. Thus, the paper resolved and embraced Womanism as its theoretical framework be- cause of its relevance to the present study.The study delves into character development in the text and the deployment of appropriate techniques by the author towards the actualisation of her the- matic thrusts. It is discovered that African literary scholars have contributed a lot to the growing gender discourse as revealed in their theorisation. The study also discovered that education and economic empowerment play predominant roles in re-defining and reconstructing the new ima- ges of women. It helps to erode the previous stereotypes and patriarchal dominance, which have hitherto hampered women’s contributions to national development. The paper concludes that functional education and economic independence, on the parts of women, are the prerequisites for the promotion of an egalitarian society and national development.

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