Description based upon print version of record.

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface; Introduction; PART ONE: Historical Background & Methodology; The Historical Context of West African Literature in the 1960s & the Study Structure; PART TWO: Sociocultural Issues in Igbo Society; Beliefs about Men & Women; Rites of Passage & Ritual Practices: Female Circumcision (Excision); Cultural Violence; The Traditional Doctor or "Dibia" in Igbo Society; Relationships & Marriage: Polygamy versus Monogamy; Relationships & Marriage: Polygamy a Way of Life?

PART THREE: Religion in African Literature & Implications for Today's SocietyObinkaram Echewa's Treatment of Religion in The Land's Lord-Toward Religious Relativism and Ecumenical Perspectives; Old-Ahamba & Father Higler: Antagonistic or Complementary Relationship?; Originality of African Traditional Religion: The Power to Create or Destroy Deities; The Symbolic Value of Building the Church: The Role of the Christian Cross & the Traditional "Ofo" in The Land's Lord; PART FOUR: Character Depictions; The Prototypical Perfect Character Creation: Efuru

Flora Nwapa's Ajanupu: Traditional or Postmodern Activist?PART FIVE: African Women's Voice: Critical & Comparative Perspectives; Flora Nwapa: A Woman Writer in a Male-Dominated Literary World; Comparative Approach: Nwapa & Other West African Women Writers; Nwapa's Eponym Depiction in Efuru versus Mariama Ba's Portrayal of Ramatoulaye and Aissatou in So Long a Letter; Leila Abouzeid: Pioneer Moroccan Woman Writer in Arabic Background; Family, Education, Gender Perceptions and Islamic/Feminist Activism; Description of the Author's Work; PART SIX: Reflection on Arts and Women's Activism

The Role of the Writer as an Activist and Promoter of Social ChangeDiscussion & Essay Questions; Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Four; Part Five (A); Part Five (B); Endnotes; Bibliography; Further Readings on Female Circumcision, and Other African Women Writers; Index; Back Cover

How do we resolve the insider/outsider interpreting conundrum? Why do readers from different parts of the world read, interpret, or understand foreign literatures the way they do? What drives peculiar critical reactions, canon formations and such issues which determine the survival of cultural productions or their continued adoption as useful bolsters for a people's self-definition or indeed self-preservation and self-determination? African Literature: Gender Discourse, Religious Values, and the African Worldview offers a series of fresh insights into most of the old ""problematics"" which use.