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Voices from the Hearth: An Afro-Feminist Reading of Accad’s Wounding Words

Received: 18 July 2021     Accepted: 18 August 2021     Published: 30 September 2021
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Abstract

This paper explores traces of African rooted feminisms in Evelyne Accad’s Wounding Words. Accad’s work explores the definition and boundaries of Lebanese/Arabic feminism. Accad’s Wounding Words is critically examined to assess how the central female characters exhibit and portray African centered feminist ideologies. This study holds the assertion that the particular literary tradition portrayed in Wounding Words seems to be patterned after has the feminist struggle in Africa. The study reveals that Arabic feminism appears to mirror African feminism closely. In the strive to dominate the feminist discourse and channel it to focus on their socio-cultural realities, Accad, just like African feminists, has practically theorized concepts which are inherent in Nego-Feminism, Snail Sense Feminism and Womanism among others. All these feminist theories are anchored on negotiation and complementarity as the primary tools of engagement in the fight for gender equality and equity. Finally, the study reveals the universality of female modes of suppression. It also highlights the institutionalized nature of the feminist struggle as well as the adopted stratagems to dismantle oppression.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12
Page(s) 218-224
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Feminisms, Nego-feminism, Snail Sense Feminism, Womanism, Negotiation

References
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[2] Abdullahi, R. (1990). Women in Politics. Lagos: NAUN.
[3] Afful, B. A. J., & Mwinlaaru, I. N., (2010). The Construction of Multiple Identities in the Acknowledgement Section of a Masters Dissertation. English for Specific Purposes World, Issue 30, Vol. 9.
[4] Aidoo, A. A. (1984). “Ghana: To Be a Woman.” Morgan, 258-265.
[5] Amadiume, I. (1987) Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society. London: Zed Books.
[6] Hooks, b. (1984). Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. Boston: South End Press.
[7] Collins, P. H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
[8] Desrochers, S., Andreassi, J. and Thompson, C. (2002). Identity Theory. Retrieved from http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/encyclopedia_entry.php?id=242&area=All on 22nd 2021 at 11:01pm.
[9] El Saadawi, N. (1980) The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World. Trans. and ed. Sherif Hetata. Boston: Beacon.
[10] Hull, G. T. (1989). “Black Women Writers and the Diaspora.” The Black Scholar 17.2.
[11] Lara, M. P. (1998). Moral Textures: Feminist Narratives in the Public Sphere. Berkeley/ Los Angeles/ London: University of California Press.
[12] Steady, F. C. (1981). “The Black Woman Cross-Culturally: An Overview.” The Black Woman Cross-Culturally. Ed. Filomina Steady. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing.
[13] Stratton, F. (1994). Contemporary African Literature and the Politics of Gender. London: Routledge.
[14] Serpe, R. T., and Stryker, S. (1987). The construction of self and reconstruction of social Relationships. In: Lawler, E. and Markovsky, B. (eds.). Advances in Group Processes, (pp. 41- 66). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
[15] Stryker, S. (1980). Symbolic interaction: A social structural version. Menlo Park: Benjamin Cummings.
[16] Nnaemeka, O. (2004) Nego-feminism: Theorizing, practising and pruning Africa’s way. Signs 29:2. Pp. 357-385.
[17] Ogunyemi, O. (1988). Women and Nigerian Literature. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
[18] Taiwo, O. (1984). Female Novelists of modern Africa. London: MacMillan.
[19] Tong, R. (1992). Feminist thought: a Comprehensive Introduction. London: Routledge.
[20] Wold, V. (1981). Women and Writing. London: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Inc.
[21] Wilcox, C. (1990). “Black Women and Feminism.” Women & Politics 10: 65-82.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Grace Danquah. (2021). Voices from the Hearth: An Afro-Feminist Reading of Accad’s Wounding Words. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(5), 218-224. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12

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    ACS Style

    Grace Danquah. Voices from the Hearth: An Afro-Feminist Reading of Accad’s Wounding Words. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(5), 218-224. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12

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    AMA Style

    Grace Danquah. Voices from the Hearth: An Afro-Feminist Reading of Accad’s Wounding Words. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(5):218-224. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12,
      author = {Grace Danquah},
      title = {Voices from the Hearth: An Afro-Feminist Reading of Accad’s Wounding Words},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {9},
      number = {5},
      pages = {218-224},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210905.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210905.12},
      abstract = {This paper explores traces of African rooted feminisms in Evelyne Accad’s Wounding Words. Accad’s work explores the definition and boundaries of Lebanese/Arabic feminism. Accad’s Wounding Words is critically examined to assess how the central female characters exhibit and portray African centered feminist ideologies. This study holds the assertion that the particular literary tradition portrayed in Wounding Words seems to be patterned after has the feminist struggle in Africa. The study reveals that Arabic feminism appears to mirror African feminism closely. In the strive to dominate the feminist discourse and channel it to focus on their socio-cultural realities, Accad, just like African feminists, has practically theorized concepts which are inherent in Nego-Feminism, Snail Sense Feminism and Womanism among others. All these feminist theories are anchored on negotiation and complementarity as the primary tools of engagement in the fight for gender equality and equity. Finally, the study reveals the universality of female modes of suppression. It also highlights the institutionalized nature of the feminist struggle as well as the adopted stratagems to dismantle oppression.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AB  - This paper explores traces of African rooted feminisms in Evelyne Accad’s Wounding Words. Accad’s work explores the definition and boundaries of Lebanese/Arabic feminism. Accad’s Wounding Words is critically examined to assess how the central female characters exhibit and portray African centered feminist ideologies. This study holds the assertion that the particular literary tradition portrayed in Wounding Words seems to be patterned after has the feminist struggle in Africa. The study reveals that Arabic feminism appears to mirror African feminism closely. In the strive to dominate the feminist discourse and channel it to focus on their socio-cultural realities, Accad, just like African feminists, has practically theorized concepts which are inherent in Nego-Feminism, Snail Sense Feminism and Womanism among others. All these feminist theories are anchored on negotiation and complementarity as the primary tools of engagement in the fight for gender equality and equity. Finally, the study reveals the universality of female modes of suppression. It also highlights the institutionalized nature of the feminist struggle as well as the adopted stratagems to dismantle oppression.
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Author Information
  • Department of English Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

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