Deconstructing the Matrilineal Traditional Roles of Marriage in the Face of Modernity at Ama Ata Aidoo Texts(Anowa and the Dilemma of a Ghost)

Abstract

Matrilineal system has been a topic of concern by scholars of literature and anthropologists in the field of literature and cultural studies. The studies carried out in the field of feminist literature reveals that the effects of matrilineal ideology in the texts was overlooked. However, a feminist analysis of texts written by authors from matrilineal descent reveals the overrepresentation of female characters in comparison with the submissive women of patriarchal societies, and underrepresentation of male characters especially the husbands and fathers. This aspect becomes a cultural and social concern in the literary works and the society, which needs to be researched on and addressed objectively. Therefore, this study analyzes the place of a man and that of a woman in a matrilineal society, on the same note, it accesses the effects of modernism to the character development of an individual as well as outline the effects of disobeying the culture to a boy versus the girl using the survey research design which entails; recruiting of participants, collecting data utilizing the interview and questionnaire techniques. It also employs non-structured qualitative method of research. It explores various texts written by authors of matrilineal descent but limits itself in analyzing two plays: Anowa and The Dilemma of a Ghost by Ama Ata Aidoo. This study adds variety of knowledge in the field of literature, therefore, open up other areas for further research in the character development of an individual in a matrilineal society. T.S Eliot’s theory of The Great Tradition and the Post-Colonial Literary Theory guides this study.