Abstract
Buchi Emecheta in Joys of Motherhood deals with colonial times in Nigeria and the
social status quo during the period. The novel is a critique in postcolonial feminism based on
African culture. Parallels are drawn in both the theories with the white race calling the tune
in the former and the male gender doing the same in the latter. The power politics, which sets
the rules of the game, marks out the Black African woman as distinctly the second class in
both the cases, as she is subjugated in both racist and sexist terms The imported cultural
values and outlook are passed on to the colonized African, thus bringing on feelings of
ambivalence in them, where they constantly oscillate between the old and the new world
order. Yet, towards the end of the novel, the African women make use of the colonial
conditions to subvert the roles social hegemony imposes upon her.
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