SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: English Language & Literature

CONTRIBUTORS:

Oge-Chimezie, O.G;
Ogbazi, I;

ABSTRACT:

The creation of characters that are under the workings of many unconscious elements beyond the characters’ control is a current trend in African literature which should be appreciated. This research titled, Trauma and Identity Crisis of Female Characters in Selected African Novels, focuses on the portrayal of trauma within African novels featuring female protagonists. Using the psychoanalytic and trauma theories, the research examines Bessie Head’s A Question of Power, Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile, Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, Yvonne Vera’s Under the Tongue, Leah Chishugi’s A Long Way from Paradise and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go to show how some female characters especially the protagonists are nearly destroyed by patriarchy, oppression, gender and racial discrimination, armed conflicts, injustice and selfish governance. The authors’ presentation of trauma is analysed to reveal the devastating impact of violence and oppression on the mind of the female. The study finds out that trauma can lead to the disruption of identity and some behavioural problems. The protagonists’ disconnection with themselves and with society, as a result of their traumatic experiences, is equally highlighted thereby creating awareness about the complex nature of life. Each protagonist of the novels studied had the opportunity to review her past, explore memories, process traumatic events and form a new identity.