Motherhood or Womanhood? A Closer Analysis of Buchi Emecheta’s the Joys of Motherhood

Literary research on women has been done by various scholars; often depicting stereotypical imaginations of how a woman should behave, who should determine her worth in the society and even on the patriarchal notions on womanhood. Scholars have also concentrated on portrayal of women in male writings. However, studies on womanhood still remains an area of interest. This paper explores the concept of womanhood in African literature by focusing on what defines a woman in Africa, historical development of womanhood in Africa, the humanistic approach to women as beings with feelings and the cultural expectations of women and how they navigate through them. Through the use of black feminism theory, this paper explores Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood to explore contrasting aspects of womanhood as portrayed through Nnu Ego and Adaku. The findings reveal that Adaku represents the contemporary woman whose life and beliefs are not tied to traditions that dictate how she should live her life; also, the Nnu Ego’s adherence to tradition and its dictates is revealed, for instance how she remains in Nnaife’s house despite how he mistreats her, because that is what is expected of her by the Igbo traditions.