Deconstructing Modern Womanhood: Myth, Ideology and Lived Reality in Double Yoke by Buchi Emecheta

Abstract

The present paper examines the role and condition of so-called modern woman who stand against the cultural norms of a particular milieu. Buchi Emecheta is considered to be a prominent Nigerian author who describes Nko as a resilient character that she herself is. Nko is her mouthpiece of modern woman. She is torn apart between the two ideological states: traditional Nigerian beliefs and modern progressive values. The transformation of ritualistic and traditionalistic Nigerians into modern African women and men makes them bear multiple loads that become their predicament in the course of the transition from one value system to another. This transition period however is characterized by moral confusion and disorder. It is difficult to know what is right and what is wrong. Nko, the protagonist desires her upliftment with her academic degree which was provided to her with additional responsibilities of pregnancy from her professor. Such is the irony of modern woman. The feminist approach and cultural aspects are far beyond the ground realities of the modern world. The role of female protagonist in the novel exposes the schism between the limiting yet familiar comforts of traditional African roles, and more expensive and sometimes dangerous choices offered by modern society. These forces buffet the life of the main characters in the novel.