This presentation is about Buchi Emecheta's novel "The Joys of Motherhood".It is part of our semester 4 paper no.1 which is about African Literature.

1. Hello!
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2. ❖ Name : Trivedi Anjali P.
❖ Roll no.: 02
❖ Enrollment no.: 3069206420200022
❖ Course : M.A. Sem 3
❖ Subject : African literature
❖ Topic : Motherhood in African Literature and Culture
❖ Guide teacher :Dr.Dilip Barad sir
❖ Email : anjali.trivedi305@gmail.com

3. ★Table Content
1. Author introduction
2. Concept of Motherhood in African Literature
3. Tradition and Custom in African Motherhood
4. Tradition and Custom in Joys of Motherhood
5. Conclusion
6. Important Quotes
7. Citation
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4. 1.
Author Introduction
Let’s start with the first set of slides…

5. ★Buchi emecheta
❏ Full name :Florence Onyebuchi "Buchi"
Emecheta
❏ Born : 21st July,1944
❏ Died : 25th January,2017
❏ She was Nigerian-born UK novelist.Her novel
based on UK from 1962.she writes about plays
and autobiography as well as works of
children.She was the author of more than 20
books, including “Second class Citizen” in
1974The “Bride Price” in 1976,”The Slave Girl”
in 1977and “The Joys of Motherhood” in 1979.
Most of her early novels were published by
Allison and Busby.where her editor was
Margaret Busby. 5

6. ★Continue…
➢ Emecheta also write about themes of child slavery,
motherhood, female independence and freedom
through education gained recognition from critics and
honours. She once described her stories as "stories of
the world, where women face the universal problems of
poverty and oppression, and the longer they stay, no
matter where they have come from originally, the more
the problems become identical.”Her works explore the
tension between tradition and modernity. She has
been characterized as "the first successful black
woman novelist living in Britain after 1948".
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7. ★Continue…
➔ Important Works:
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8. 2
CONCEPT OF MOTHERHOOD IN AFRICAN
LITERATURE
Let’s start with the OTHER set of slides…

9. “
“God, when will you create a woman who
will be fulfilled in herself, a full human
being, not anybody’s appendage? she
prayed desperately.”
-Buchi Emecheta
(The Joys of Motherhood)
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10. ★ Concept of Motherhood in African Literature
● Motherhood is often defined as an automatic set of feelings and
behaviours that is switched on by pregnancy and the birth of a baby.It is
an experience that is said to be profoundly shaped by social context and
culture.
● In many societies, motherhood is wrapped in many cultural and religious
meanings - cultural as in what the society thinks a mother should be, that
is, some elements associated with a mother, and religiously, it what the
practiced faith of a particular society attaches to motherhood.
● Motherhood in some quarters is seen as a sacred and powerful spiritual
path for a woman to take.In literature and in other discourses alike,
motherhood is a recurrent theme across cultures.
● Religions all over the world whether Christian, Judaic, Hindu and Islam
accord very important place to motherhood, it is widely an exalted realm
for the woman hence religious imagery sentimentalizes and idealizes
motherhood.
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11. Big concept
❏ The idea of self- sacrifice
emphasizes the center of
motherhood in African society.
❏ The way and manner societies
conceptualize motherhood in a
way, has come to command popular
appeal because it is seen as a
symbol of the nation-state.
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12. 3
TRADITION AND CUSTOM IN AFRICAN
MOTHERHOOD
Let’s start with the OTHER set of slides…

13. ★ Tradition and custom in african motherhood
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● The place and the role of women in African Religion and tradition and also
interrogates the place of Motherhood in the production, circulation and consumption
of items in African tradition.
● When mother responsible for her own children and will be able to guide her own
daughters into womanhood and motherhood. Similar to Western culture, girls within
African society go through a similar transformation. However, the rituals
surrounding womanhood and motherhood reflex different cultural norms and
practices.
● In many African cultures, like the Senegalese and Hofriyati, female circumcision is
used as a way to initiate girls into womanhood. This practices allows them to be
eligible for marriage and motherhood. Motherhood is not honored or congratulated
by others; instead, it is seen as a type of duty the woman must perform. The duty is
not solely becoming a mother and having children, but it is also the correct
upbringing practices of the baby in order for it to grow in the community.

14. ★Continue…
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● Within the many African cultures, ideas of motherhood and
child rearing practices vary greatly and are not universal
which makes them difficult to define.
● When defining motherhood for this community a large part
is due to their religious culture. Religion is the core to
motherhood and child rearing practices in the African
culture; guiding not only the actions the mother should
perform but also identifying a child before that child has
grown to identify itself.
● Feminists in Africa, while conceding that motherhood may
at times operate in an oppressive manner, have tried to
read other meanings to motherhood, meanings that are
empowering for women.

15. 4
TRADITION AND CUSTOM IN JOYS OF
MOTHERHOOD
Let’s start with the OTHER set of slides…

16. ● Nnu Ego, the protagonist of The Joys of Motherhood desperately wants to
follow a traditional life. Not only does she want to be seen as a good
woman, in the traditional sense, but she wants to reap the rewards of
living a traditional Ibo life.
● she would work hard, eventually, her children would care for her in her old
age. But unfortunately, Nnu Ego is living in Lagos, an urban city influenced
by Western culture, which is unlike anything that her traditional values
have prepared her for.
● Against the odds, she tries to raise her kids with traditional values, even
while adjusting to modern life.
● Nnu Ego struggles throughout her entire life to take care of her family,
only to find that the rug has been pulled out from under her feet.
Ultimately, she has all the responsibilities of a traditional woman with none
of the rewards.
★ Tradition and Custom in “Joys of Motherhood”
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17. ★Continue…
● Even though traditional values and customs are
insufficient for succeeding in modern Nigeria, the new
westernized values and customs are an inadequate
replacement according to The Joys of Motherhood.
● Although Nnu Ego believes her problem is that she tried
to be a traditional woman in a modern context, she is
wrong; her problem is that everybody around her was
selfish, while she sacrificed herself for their needs and
desires.
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18. 5
CONCLUSION
Let’s start with the OTHER set of slides…

19. ★conclusion
➢ At the end we can see that the African
Motherhood culture is hard to define.Many
issues are we can see in western as well as
traditional culture but the concept of
motherhood has been of central importance in
the traditions of people of Africa and it has been
presented by many of them;even the so-called
feminists.
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20. 6
Important quotes
Let’s start with the OTHER set of slides…

21. 21
"They became so insulated in their beliefs that not only
would they have little to do with ordinary sinners,
people going about their daily work, they even pitied
them and in many cases looked down on them because
the Kingdom of God was not for the likes of them.
Maybe this was a protective mechanism devised to save
them from realities too painful to accept."
-Buchi Emecheta
(The joys of Motherhood)

22. 22
"In Ibuza sons help their father more than they
help their mother. A mother's joy is only in the
name. She worries over them, looks after them
when they are small; but in the actual help on the
farm, the upholding of the family name, all belong
to the father."
-Buchi Emecheta
(The Joys of Motherhood)

23. 23
"On her way back to their room, it occurred to Nnu Ego
that she was a prisoner, imprisoned by her love for their
children, imprisoned by her role as the senior wife. She was
not even expected to demand more money for her family;
that was considered below the standard expected of a
woman in her position. It was not fair, she felt, the way
men cleverly used a woman's sense of responsibility to
actually enslave her. They knew that the traditional wife
like herself would never dream of leaving her children."
-Buchi Emecheta
(The Joys of Motherhood)

24. 7.Citation :
1. Akujobi, Remi. "Motherhood in African Literature and Culture." CLCWeb: Comparative
Literature and Culture, vol. 13, no. 1, 2011.
2. Siminoff, David, and Ellen Siminoff. "The Joys of Motherhood Tradition and Customs."
Homework Help & Study Guides For Students | Shmoop, www.shmoop.com/study-
guides/literature/joys-of-motherhood/themes/tradition-and-customs.
3. Boyer, Erin, and Caitly Malone. "Women & Religion in Africa » Sexuality & Motherhood." Women
and Religion in Africa, 13 May 2013, blog.uvm.edu/vlbrenna-rel163/sexuality-motherhood/.
4. "Buchi Emecheta." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 16 Mar. 2004,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchi_Emecheta. Accessed 1 Mar. 2022.
5. GradeSaver. "The Joys of Motherhood Quotes." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver,
Nick and Olivia, www.gradesaver.com/the-joys-of-motherhood/study-guide/quotes. Accessed
Apr. 1999.
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25. THANK YOU !!
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