Neither Only Uterus, Nor Only Sex:

The Female Body and Femininity in the writing of Buchi Emecheta

Abstract

Increasingly, the representativeness of the body is in crisis. The body exists not only in the physical realm, but also as connective force between the world and language. This paper reflects on the question of the body and women’s writing, in Buchi Emecheta’s novel, The Joys of Motherhood, by utilizing critical perspectives of authors such as Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Ifi Amadiume, Oyèronkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, as well as Conceição Evaristo’s concept of “escrevivência” [“writing-living”]. In Buchi Emecheta, the discursive and thematic inversion of male topoi is framed inthe context of the colonial period (the novel’s diegesis) and the post-colonial period (1970s, when the work was produced). Other narratives and literary discourses are considered in the discussion, in order to add nuance to the discussion of the varying roles of body in colonial and postcolonial (de)codifications of Nigeria.