STRONG DETERMINATION FOR SELF-DISCOVERY IN BUCHI EMECHETA’S KEHINDE

Abstract

Buchi Emecheta is one of the most renowned female writers from Nigeria. Her writing expresses the conflict of native heritage and western culture in hybrid Nigerian society. She resists the traditional indigenous practices that confine women to African patriarchal structure. She portrays women in Africa under Igbo culture and tradition. At the same time, she talks about her perception of life as a strenuous African effect to ensconce her identity in a Western country and then discusses her character and how she has been entrapped into two different worlds: the native African Igbo culture and the Westernised culture. This article presents the main character, Kehinde, as distinct from an ordinary Igbo woman. The reason is her strong determination to mould her life away from the old Igbo traditional practices. Kehinde is an educated modern African woman who is independent, assertive, courageous, and liberated.