1.1 Introduction
Gender-based violence is not a new problem in the Nigerian society or other societies of the world. Violence against an individual on the basis of his /her gender is common place and is becoming endemic. In Adichie’s novel, there are various symbols, starting from the title of the novel; half of a Yellow Sun represents the Biafran flag: a Yellow Sun, which is not fully risen, thus not enough for maximum illumination a half Sun. This symbolizes the short lived Biafran war. The Biafrans were not fully ready for that which made it impossible for them to match the Nigeria side, despite their bravery. Purple Hibiscus is set in postcolonial Nigeria, a country beset by political instability and economic difficulties. The central character is Kambili Achike, aged fifteen for much of the period covered by the book, a member of a wealthy family dominated by her devoutly Catholic father, Eugene (Wikipedia, 2021).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to women writing in Africa. Consequently, gender studies dominated the literary scene and the representation of women in male authored works precipitated many critical debates. In other words, there has been more interest in examining the ways in which men behave, particularly in relation to women. Consequently, a literary canon was developed in which women writers give a re-presentation of the female experience by depicting a different image of women in their works in variance with the earlier works by male authors.
In furtherance of the argument on the importance of women writing about the female experience in literary texts, Aidoo (1996) submits that, Women writers write about women because when we wake up in the morning and look in the mirror we see women”. Many female writers try to bring into focus their femaleness/femininity and personal experiences in their narratives and in doing so highlight power differences between men and women.
As a result, women scholars and activists have pioneered a literary canon built on sexual politics aimed at stamping gender and feminism into both criticism and theory. This is with the aim of replacing a tradition that is viewed as masculine and domineering by female critics like Showalter (1985). She maintains that gender has become an analytic category whether the concerns are representation of sexual difference, (re)shaping masculinity, building feminine values or exclusion of female voice from the literary canon.
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