Conceptualizing feminism(s) in Africa: The challenges facing African women writers and critics

The definition and use of the term feminism in African literature poses a number of problems for African women writers and critics, many of whom tend to deny any affiliation to the feminist movement, even though their writings espouse feminist aspirations. Their detachment perhaps accrues from the misconceptions that surround the concept of feminism. Feminism is often interpreted as being anti-male, anti-culture and anti-religion in its theoretical framework. It therefore becomes challenging for a woman writer who shares none of these ideologies to take a feminist stance. She has to accept feminism with all its implications (some of which might be opposed to her cultural beliefs), or reject it completely, or appropriate the concept and redefine it in a manner that appropriately expresses her cultural experience. An African woman critic, on the other hand, often finds herself in the uncomfortable situation of categorizing a writer as feminist and then stumbling on a published interview in which the writer vehemently refuses to be so identified. Thus, African women critics have had to negotiate between ‘feminism’, ‘womanism’, and ‘humanism’ as appropriate terms for the interpretation of works by African women. This article aims to highlight some of the problems inherent in the conceptualization of feminism(s) in Africa, while also exploring alternative methods of theorizing the concept in such a way that it becomes an instrument for the empowermen of African women.