Third generation African and African-American writers are defined as those who are born within the 1960’s and beyond; whose literary output examines the social realities in their society. Adesanmi and Dunton observe that “one of the most distinctive features of “third-generation” texts is the absence of a more-or-less rooted, totalizing and over-determining historical “traditionalist centre” around which narrative point of view, thematisation, language, and structure are orientated” (15). Their themes are mostly shaped by the events and experiences of people within the period. Dalley Hamish (2013) believes that “third generation literature are shaped around recent ambivalent spatio-temporal imaginaries that exceed the national-generational framework” (15). Their literary disposition seem a little different from what read from the 1st/2nd generations African and African-American writers. Examples of such writers includes Chris Abani, Okey Ndibe, Alice Walker, Imbolo Mbue, Amma Darko, Chimamanda Adichie, Lola Shoneyin, Oyikan Braithwaite, Chika Unigwe amongst others. This panel seeks to examine how women are portrayed/ represented in novels written by third generation African and African-American literary writers. Are there differences or similarities with the portrayal of women in third generation novels when compared to the 1st/2nd generation writers? Are there changes in the roles assigned to women in their novels? Do they differ from what we usually read in the 1st/2nd generation novels?
We welcome papers in English/French that seeks to explore the representations of women in third generation African and African-American novels.
Please send abstracts to ijeoma.ibeku@fuoye.edu.ng no later than March 8.
Representations of Women in Third Generation African and African-American Novels
