A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

Peace Sorochi Longdet

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

Peace Sorochi Longdet

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 5, Issue 2)

Received: 1 March 2020 Accepted: 17 March 2020 Published: 7 April 2020

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Abstract

This study examines female identity in the novel of Chimamanda N. Adichie using an eclectic model that combines African feminist theory and palimpsestic analogy. A critical reading of the text reveals that African women writers have a strong commitment towards the redefinition of female identity in literary texts. In terms of the major preoccupation of female writers in their works, it has been observed that Adichie is passionate about her projection of strong female characters alongside weak female characters that function under the traditional atmosphere. Adichie creates female characters that on the surface appear docile, timid, robot–like and passive, however through her dexterous master – craft she proceeds to deconstruct, such portraiture to allow the creation of another identity on the erased surface. This style, gives the female characters a multi-layered pattern similar to that of an erased writing on a piece of parchment-palimpsest. I argue that through this palimpsestic portraiture, Adichie advocates for other means of female assertion- education is a strong weapon for her female characters’ self-assertion and empowerment. The study, therefore, suggests that for objective reading and interpretation of Purple Hibiscus particularly as it relates to female characters critics should negotiate the ability to look at women’s work with fresher eye.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11
Page(s)	53-59
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Palimpsest, Female Identity, Gender, Oppressive System Africa

References

[1]	Berndt, Katrin: Female Identity in Contemporary Zimbabwean Fiction. Germany, Pia Theilman & Eckhard Breitinger, 2005.
[2]	Ogundipe- Leslie, Molara. Re-creating Ourselves: African Women and Critical Transformation. Trenton, NJ: African World Press, 1994. p. 5.
[3]	Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Second Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1979, 2000.
[4]	Bornstein, G. “Introduction” Palimpsest: Editorial Theory in the Humanities. eds. George Bornstein and Ralph G. William. www.pressumich.edu/titledetailsdesc.do. Accessed 13/03/2020
[5]	Coleridge, E. H. “Christabel, Hypertext, Palimpsest”. www.erudit.org/revue/RON/1998/v/nio. Accessed 13/03/2020
[6]	Adichie, N. Chimamanda. Purple Hibiscus. Lagos: Farafina, 2004. p. 5, 13, 16, 10, 51, 53, 87, 95, 98, 144, 210, 302.
[7]	Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinmann, 1958.
[8]	Cary, Joyce. Mister Johnson. New York: Directions, 1989 edition. Print.
[9]	Okuyade, Ogaga. “Changing Borders Creating Voices: Silence as Character in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus”. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 2.9. (2009): p. 247 http://jpanafrican.com/docs/vol2no9/2.9_Changing_Borders_and_Creating_V oices.pdf. Web.
[10]	Dube, Musa. Purple Hibiscus: A Postcolonial Feminist Reading. Missionalia. 46. 10.7832/46-2-311. 2019.
[11]	Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper”. www.gutenberg.org/etext/TheYellow Wallpaper. Retrieved 13/03/2020.
[12]	Azuike, Maureen A. “Women’s struggles and independence in Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun” African Research Review An international multi-disciplinary Journal, 3. 4 (2009): p. 82 http:/ajol.info/index.php/afrrev/article/ Web.
[13]	Oha C. Anthony. “Beyond the odds of the Red Hibiscus: A critical reading of Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus”. The Journal of Pan African Studies. 1.9. (2007): p. 199.
[14]	Okuyade, Ogaga “Trying to Survive: Growth and transformation in African Female Narratives”. Califonia Linguistic Notes. Xxxvi. L, (2010): 1-33.
[15]	Nutsukpo, Margaret. F. “Domestic Violence in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus” International Journal of Arts and Humanities (IJAH) Ethiopia. Vol. 6 (3), S/No 22, July, 2017: 118-126.
[16]	Astrick, Tifanny. Patriarchal Oppression and Women Empowerment in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. Vivid Journal of Language and Literature. 7. 45. 10.25077/vj.7.2.45-50.2018.
[17]	Uwakweh Ada Pauline. Debunking Patriarchy: The Liberation Quality of Voicing in Tisitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions”. Research in African Literatures 26: 1 1995: 75-84.
[18]	Thilagavathi, R. P. The use of Language in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH, 7 (6), 11. 2019.

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Peace Sorochi Longdet. (2020). A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. English Language, Literature & Culture, 5(2), 53-59. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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Peace Sorochi Longdet. A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2020, 5(2), 53-59. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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AMA Style

Peace Sorochi Longdet. A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2020;5(2):53-59. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11,
  author = {Peace Sorochi Longdet},
  title = {A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {5},
  number = {2},
  pages = {53-59},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20200502.11},
  abstract = {This study examines female identity in the novel of Chimamanda N. Adichie using an eclectic model that combines African feminist theory and palimpsestic analogy. A critical reading of the text reveals that African women writers have a strong commitment towards the redefinition of female identity in literary texts. In terms of the major preoccupation of female writers in their works, it has been observed that Adichie is passionate about her projection of strong female characters alongside weak female characters that function under the traditional atmosphere. Adichie creates female characters that on the surface appear docile, timid, robot–like and passive, however through her dexterous master – craft she proceeds to deconstruct, such portraiture to allow the creation of another identity on the erased surface. This style, gives the female characters a multi-layered pattern similar to that of an erased writing on a piece of parchment-palimpsest. I argue that through this palimpsestic portraiture, Adichie advocates for other means of female assertion- education is a strong weapon for her female characters’ self-assertion and empowerment. The study, therefore, suggests that for objective reading and interpretation of Purple Hibiscus particularly as it relates to female characters critics should negotiate the ability to look at women’s work with fresher eye.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus
AU  - Peace Sorochi Longdet
Y1  - 2020/04/07
PY  - 2020
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11
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JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
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AB  - This study examines female identity in the novel of Chimamanda N. Adichie using an eclectic model that combines African feminist theory and palimpsestic analogy. A critical reading of the text reveals that African women writers have a strong commitment towards the redefinition of female identity in literary texts. In terms of the major preoccupation of female writers in their works, it has been observed that Adichie is passionate about her projection of strong female characters alongside weak female characters that function under the traditional atmosphere. Adichie creates female characters that on the surface appear docile, timid, robot–like and passive, however through her dexterous master – craft she proceeds to deconstruct, such portraiture to allow the creation of another identity on the erased surface. This style, gives the female characters a multi-layered pattern similar to that of an erased writing on a piece of parchment-palimpsest. I argue that through this palimpsestic portraiture, Adichie advocates for other means of female assertion- education is a strong weapon for her female characters’ self-assertion and empowerment. The study, therefore, suggests that for objective reading and interpretation of Purple Hibiscus particularly as it relates to female characters critics should negotiate the ability to look at women’s work with fresher eye.
VL  - 5
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Author Information

Peace Sorochi Longdet

Department of English, School of Languages, Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Nigeria

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Peace Sorochi Longdet. (2020). A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. English Language, Literature & Culture, 5(2), 53-59. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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ACS Style

Peace Sorochi Longdet. A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2020, 5(2), 53-59. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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AMA Style

Peace Sorochi Longdet. A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2020;5(2):53-59. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11,
  author = {Peace Sorochi Longdet},
  title = {A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {5},
  number = {2},
  pages = {53-59},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20200502.11},
  abstract = {This study examines female identity in the novel of Chimamanda N. Adichie using an eclectic model that combines African feminist theory and palimpsestic analogy. A critical reading of the text reveals that African women writers have a strong commitment towards the redefinition of female identity in literary texts. In terms of the major preoccupation of female writers in their works, it has been observed that Adichie is passionate about her projection of strong female characters alongside weak female characters that function under the traditional atmosphere. Adichie creates female characters that on the surface appear docile, timid, robot–like and passive, however through her dexterous master – craft she proceeds to deconstruct, such portraiture to allow the creation of another identity on the erased surface. This style, gives the female characters a multi-layered pattern similar to that of an erased writing on a piece of parchment-palimpsest. I argue that through this palimpsestic portraiture, Adichie advocates for other means of female assertion- education is a strong weapon for her female characters’ self-assertion and empowerment. The study, therefore, suggests that for objective reading and interpretation of Purple Hibiscus particularly as it relates to female characters critics should negotiate the ability to look at women’s work with fresher eye.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Palimpsestic Reading of Female Identity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus
AU  - Peace Sorochi Longdet
Y1  - 2020/04/07
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 53
EP  - 59
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.11
AB  - This study examines female identity in the novel of Chimamanda N. Adichie using an eclectic model that combines African feminist theory and palimpsestic analogy. A critical reading of the text reveals that African women writers have a strong commitment towards the redefinition of female identity in literary texts. In terms of the major preoccupation of female writers in their works, it has been observed that Adichie is passionate about her projection of strong female characters alongside weak female characters that function under the traditional atmosphere. Adichie creates female characters that on the surface appear docile, timid, robot–like and passive, however through her dexterous master – craft she proceeds to deconstruct, such portraiture to allow the creation of another identity on the erased surface. This style, gives the female characters a multi-layered pattern similar to that of an erased writing on a piece of parchment-palimpsest. I argue that through this palimpsestic portraiture, Adichie advocates for other means of female assertion- education is a strong weapon for her female characters’ self-assertion and empowerment. The study, therefore, suggests that for objective reading and interpretation of Purple Hibiscus particularly as it relates to female characters critics should negotiate the ability to look at women’s work with fresher eye.
VL  - 5
IS  - 2
ER  -

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