Portrayal of Altered Gender Roles in The Joys of Motherland: A feminist discourse analysis

Abstract

The aim of this research is to look at Emecheta's novel The Joys of Motherhood (1979) through the lens of a postcolonial feminist. The study casts doubt on the idea that British colonialism had a civilising mission in Third World countries. The current research, on the other hand, contends that the British Empire thrived on slavery, degrading and marginalising native women as colonial subjects who were marginalised by both colonialism and the local patriarchal structure, making them doubly oppressed. In several respects, white men's culture has been forced on the socio-cultural lives of African people, posing a direct challenge to their cultural ideals and traditions. To address the postcolonial feminist viewpoint in this African novel, the study incorporates Holst Petersen and Rutherford’s (1985) critical views on double colonisation. This research is a fine attempt evoking empathy in Pakistani readers due to common historical and psychological experience under colonial rule.