FEMINIST THEORY OF LITERACY CRITICISM
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FEMINIST THEORY OF LITERACY CRITICISM
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
Purpose Of The Study
The goal of this research is to demonstrate Julie Okoh’s The Trials as a feminist book.
Scope Of The Study
This study is limited to Julie Okoh’s novel The Trials. The study examines the basic memorable of a feminist text, which are strong memorable female characters, portrayal of women as having innate goodness and genuine concern for the family, especially the children;
portrayal of women as bringing instrumental to positive change in improving the society economically; and finally, the presence of power relations and calls for change in the status’ of women as critical responses of women to a society dominated by men-folk.
Methodology
This work is qualitative, with the primary source being Julie Okoh’s text The Trials. Journal papers and books were also used as sources.
Theoretical Background
The feminist philosophy of literacy criticism serves as the foundation for this study.
According to Ann B. Dobie (a writer and theorist who wrote Theory into Practise), while the feminist movement dates back to the nineteenth century, feminist lenses did not emerge until the early 1960s.
Feminism, according to the Encyclopaedia Americana 1920’s, is a collection of ideas and a movement focused at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for men and women.
This includes attempting to equalise educational and career opportunities for women (Wikipedia “feminism” collier new Encyclopaedia 1921).
Feminism is thus an ideology movement that advocates for men and women’s economic, social, and political equality in society. As a result, if frowns at male subjugation of women.
Feminism is a philosophy that seeks to recognise women’s power and right to shape and change a new society. It demands that women not be evaluated based on their gender.
It aims to remedy the condition in society in which a woman cannot occupy particular positions and jobs or have a say in state issues due to her gender.
Feminism, according to Judith Burdick, is an unequivocal and unambiguous rejection of the way of life generated by powerful coercive norms. She goes on to say:
“That advocacy for the advancement of women’s rights and equality with men in the social, political, and economic spheres (588).”Feminism asserts that a woman has the right and independence from male dominance to determine her own destiny.
According to this belief, women are capable of making their own decisions, knowing what is beneficial for them as well as what is bad for them. This movement also advocated for women to break new ground and allow themselves to be trampled by men.
Feminism is defined in the book encyclopedia…..(vol ii) as
“The belief that women should have equal economic, political, and social rights as men.” The movement could also be referred to as the Women’s Liberation Movement or the Women’s Movement” (46).
Brudwick also believes that feminism is out to undermine the ideology, but it is built in religious, economic, or biological supremacy over women.
“Is a psychological revaluation based on women’s insistence on their fundamental right to choose and be judged as individuals.”Furthermore, women’s concentrated struggle to end their plight demonstrated to the world that their contribution to societal development would be barren if they were socially, politically, or economically deprived in any way.
As a result, in order for peace and stability to rule, they must tread like their masculine counterpart. This defence and demand established the groundwork for feminism. It is dedicated to eliminating gender inequity and supporting women’s rights, interests, and issues in society.
Feminism began with the arrival of several wollstonecraftsmen. A victory for women’s rights. In the essay, she describes how “women are stripped of virtue that should clothe humanity, then decked with artificial graces that enable them to exercise a brief tyranny.” (142)
According to that phrase, a woman’s basic worth stems from her shared humanity and does not depend on anything else.
The first feminist movement or thought in Nigeria dates back to the Aba Women Roit (1926), an event aimed at women’s emancipation. Aside from the Nigeria event, there is also the Beijing Women Conference in China, which focuses on the condition of women and the actions required to improve their lot.
The effort to abolish female discrimination, stereotyping, and male dominance should not be viewed a one-man race, but rather a community struggle. The male rules over the have-nots, while women are degraded and reduced to objects of men’s passion and pleasure.
As a result, feminism evolved in order to eradicate these vices in society. However, because Africa has yet to witness radical feminism, Alice Waker writes in her book The Nature of Black Feminism:
“Black feminism is dedicated to the survival and wholeness of all people, male and female.”(231)
Black feminism is committed to the survival of all, rather than being a one-sided or selfish endeavour.
According to Okey Okwechine, “equality to rights and opportunity for both men and women is essential for a healthy society” (209). This basically means that for a society to progress, everyone, regardless of gender, should have equal support.
The goal and scope of the feminism movement are separated into two parts, whereby we all have basic common aims as women regardless of colour, class, or culture. Others differ from place to country according to race, class, and culture.
Initially, the feminist movement focused on achieving legal equality, particularly the ability to vote. In 1839, women in New Zealand were the first6 to argue for and obtain this right, followed by women in Australia,
various European nations, and eventually the United States. In the early 1900s, a new concern for economic and social equality evolved, revitalising the movement.
A feminist organisation fought to eradicate gender discrimination in education and employment. Many women entered professions like as law, medicine, politics, business, and other male-dominated fields.
The feminist movement attempted to remove laws and practises that enforced men’s supremacy over women and women’s inferiority status through discrimination in matters of sex and child bearing. In other words, feminists advocated for greater access to birth control information as well as the legalisation of abortion in the same countries.
They worked to challenge the conventional belief that women are weak, docile, and dependant; that women are less ratio and more emotional than men; and that women live to please men.
In sections of Africa, feminist movements aimed at basic roles such as removing excessive bride prices, preferring male offspring over female children, and abuse of widows, among other things.
Another feminist goal is to improve women’s image and demonstrate the need to be unsatisfied with their traditional roles of being subjugated to male dominance, and that women can participate equally with men in all areas of human endeavour. Also, to enable all women to realise their full potential.
According to Ann B Dobie’s book Theory into Practise, femimist criticism can be explored from three different perspectives, which are: study of defences, research of female power, and study of female experience.
Feminist critics interested in discovering the difference between male and female writing work from the concept that gender determines everything, including value system and language, in the study of difference.
The concept of gender difference has arisen in an assumption of feminine inferiority in the writing of men and women, which analyses questions such as:
Is the writer writing in a genre that is typical of male or female writers of that time or period?
Do you think the piece’s content is usual or uncommon, and does the voice sound typical of a male or female writer? Is it subjective or objective, personal or impersonal, tacit or explicit?
In addressing the above question in connection to Julie Okoh’s principal text The Trials, it is evident that the genre of the text is drama, very brief and concise, which is typical of the genre of Nigerian writers in the twenty-first century.
The text’s substance is typical of a female writer because it emphasises the importance of female empowerment.
Because the protagonist (Ibiso) is female, the voice is typical of a female writer; it advocates for female empowerment and equal rights for men and women in economic, social, and political matters: This mindset can be observed in Ibiso, who provides for her family despite economic adversity.
Because the narrative is not limited to Africa, but to the entire world, the tone is generic and impersonal. The text The Trials is objective because it is not based on the playwright’s personal feelings.
Power imbalances are frequently mentioned by feminist critics of power. They believe that the economic system is at the basis of inequitable relationships, and they target women’s economic and social exploitation. They contend that women are oppressed.
They contend that women are oppressed by a group that actively oppresses them through its ideology. Michele Barrett, writing from a maximalist perspective, contends that the organisation of the family and household is tied to the division of labour in society. The term refers to the social division of labour.
The educational system and the cultural roles of men and women. According to Ann B. Dobie, the following questions should be explored while looking for the study of power in a book.
When do you notice power disparities among the characters?
Who are the powerful and who are the weak? Are the latter women or members of a minority?
In the text, how is labour divided between men and women?
Is the text opposed to or accepting of a social system that denies equal treatment to all?
In responding to the above quest, make use of the text The Trials.
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