Patriarchy and socialization in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Purple Hibiscus and Jamaica Kincaid's L

This article focuses on the first novel of contemporary Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (2003). It offers a reading of Adichie’s novel, Purple Hibiscus as a quintessential African feminist novel, negating female aesthetics of suffering and upholding the aesthetics of women empowerment. Kambili’s, the young protagonist’s life represents a coherent response to the challenges of life in a postcolonial African nation as the novel pays attention to the different forms of oppression in the lives of women in postcolonial Nigerian society. Adichie’s approach to subvert male oppression confirms that despite the struggles, women assert themselves in a world dominated by men through education and female solidarity. Her novel suggests women empowerment through social transformation by which the different forms of oppression, exploitation, exclusion and silencing are confronted by women promoting gender equality.