Eco-motherist Reading of Works of Selected African Female Writers
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Date
2025-12
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Lead City University, Ibadan
Abstract
This study explores eco-motherism as an emerging philosophical and literary discourse within African feminist writing on the interconnectedness of women and nature for sustainability. This will be done through qualitative analysis of the selected texts aided by close reading and critical analysis of the thematic preoccupations with regards to environmental consciousness to motherhood, nurturing, and gendered resistance. The study adopts Ecofeminist Theory, Eco-motherist theory and Maternal Theory as its theoretical framework. The study will analyze the intersections of Female African Writers on female identity, ecological degradation, and the ethics of care. Five African works will be conveniently selected from five different sub regions of Africa; The Purple Violet of Oshaantu, Namibia, by Neshani Andreas, Yellow Yellow, Niger-Delta area in Nigeria, by Kaine Agary, Nervous Condition, Zimbabwe, by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Female Fear Factory, South Africa by Pulma Dineo Qqola, and Woman at Point Zero, Egypt by Nawaal Elshadawi. These books demonstrate that African women’s literature not only challenges patriarchal and colonial forms of oppression but also redefines motherhood as a space of ecological and social transformation. The study concludes that eco-motherism provides a contextual framework for understanding how women’s roles as nurturers extend beyond the domestic sphere to the preservation of the environment and communal wellbeing which calls for an integrative approach that will link together gender studies, literary critics, environment justice and
development studies.
Keywords: Eco-motherism, Ecofeminism, African Feminism, Maternal Ecology, Environmental Literature.
Word count: 225
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Keywords
Eco-motherism, Ecofeminism, African Feminism, Maternal Ecology, Environmental Literature.
Citation
Kate Turabian