BEYOND CULTURAL BOUNDARIES: A FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF SAFIYA ISMAIL YERO’S NAJA

Abstract

The growing interest in the ways of sustaining cultural identity has attracted diverse approaches in scholarship. This is not unconnected with the discoveries on the vital roles culture performs in the society. One of these functions is exhibiting some
patterns of behaviours that favours one gender over the other. Most people have become so overwhelmed by these behaviours that they hardly draw a boundary between culturally oriented practices from those of religion. However, at the receiving end of most of these practices are the women. Thus, the need to identify the boundary between the two becomes vital so that the society can redirect its behavioural patterns and thinking towards positive progression. Established women writers from the northern part of Nigeria like Zaynab Alkali, Razinat Mohammed, Balaraba Mohammad and the emerging voices of the likes Aziza Idris, Safiya Ismaila Yero, Aaisha Abdulkareem have tilted their focus on such issues in their works to enlighten the society. This paper focuses on examining how Yero’s Naja explores culture from an Islamic-oriented environment. The study, through African
feminist theory and hermeneutic approach finds that Yero’s Naja richly depicts those traditional practices that have aided or averted the empowerment of (rural) womanb especially due to their strong connection Islamic practices. The study concludes that
the contemporary voices, just like their predecessors, are concerned with unveiling the cultural hurdles that hinder the progress of women and redefining the roles of these women for the betterment of women and the well-being society at large.