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Research in African Literatures 34.2 (2003) 217-218



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Palaver: Geschlechter- und Gesellschaftsdiskurs in Nigeria; Kon/Textuelle Lesung ausgewählter Romane der Igbo-Autorinnen Buchi Emecheta und Flora Nwapa, by Christiane Fluche. Bayreuth African Studies Series. Bay-reuth: Eckhard Breitinger, 2002. 337 pp. ISBN 3-927510-74-2 paper.

Christiane Fluche's Palaver: Gender and Societal Discourse in Nigeria; Con/Textual Reading of Selected Novels by Igbo Authors Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa is not a traditional literary analysis but has strong ethnosociological components. Thus, it is not the selected novels by Emecheta (The Slave Girl, The Joys of Motherhood, Destination Biafra) and Nwapa (Efuru, One is Enough) that are foregrounded but the details about various aspects of traditional Igbo life and philosophy that are reflected in the novels. After extensive, informative, and minutely researched presentations of these aspects, Fluche turns to the individual novels and analyzes how the authors represent these topics in their fiction. On the one hand, her approach appears to "validate" history through literature; yet on the other hand, it shows when and where the novelists criticize through their characters the male instrumentalization of traditional beliefs and gender roles.

The book is divided into five chapters with subdivisions. The introductory chapter crystallizes Fluche's thesis: The two novelists' works are motivated by concerns for, and contribute to the discussion about, Nigerian society. Their gender discourse is dual-voiced, representing and criticizing Nigerian gender relations. This discourse is embedded in the specific economic, political, and social conditions of the cultural context and part of the discourse about general Nigerian welfare. Emecheta's and Nwapa's literary contributions to this general welfare are based on the Igbo nne omumu (mother of the community) principle. Fluche's discussion utilizes African feminism throughout and is critical of Western feminist reviews of the selected novels. Chapter two discusses aspects of traditional Igbo culture such as settlement forms, cultural varieties and theories of Igbo origins, and values and norms of traditional Igbo society such as creation myths and principles of community and social classes, recognition of achievements and seniority as well as structures of the gender system. In the main chapter, Fluche turns to continuing and changing gender roles and discusses women as wives, daughters, and mothers; women's role in the economy, politics, and religion; and Emecheta's and Nwapa's representations of gendered images [End Page 217] in contrast to the way men and women characters act. Chapter four turns to the values and norms of Igbo society in transition from traditional to Western-influenced. In the concluding chapter, Fluche returns to nne omumu and asserts that through their novels, Emecheta and Nwapa deconstruct the image of the powerful man and the powerless woman, warn against the adaptation of mystical counter images, and stress the importance, with Fluche's definition of African feminism, that the welfare of women in Nigeria is connected to the welfare of the entire society.

Palaver has some weaknesses: since selected aspects are studied, the discussion of the corresponding parts within the novels fragmentizes Eme-cheta's and Nwapa's works. In order to recognize the plot, the reader has to put together pieces of a puzzle. He or she does not learn much about the individual characters from Fluche, their inner struggles and triumphs, or the athmospheres Nwapa and Emecheta create. Some more and longer quotations from the novels might have eased the process of coming to a more complete understanding of the novels' concerns and made for a more gripping reading of a discussion written in a rather dry style. Furthermore, the book, unfortunately, has no index.

Palaver also has strengths: its detailed and reliably researched body, its 627 footnotes, 9-page glossary, and 28-page comprehensive bibliography divided into primary and secondary sources, which in turn are divided into "Reference Works," "Culture and Society," and "Literature," makes for a must-read and great source book for every teacher of literature able to read German who knows the novels but might...

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