The girl-child and absentee mothers in Yejide Kilanko’s Daughters Who Walk This Path and Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees
Keywords:
Absent mothers, girlchild, maternal absence, identity formation, African LiteratureAbstract
Literature has been an avenue through which the society is viewed. In this paper, a major aspect of the society is portrayed as it examines the issue of absentee mothers and the girl child in Nigerian literature. By means of betrayal trauma theory and attachment theory with the content analysis method, this study through Yejide Kilanko and Chinelo Okparanta’s Daughters Who Walk This Path and Under the Udala Trees examine the impact of pain of betrayal on the girl child and its effect on the society as against previous studies that explored the bildungsroman/womanist approach. This study finds that the authors in their novels address a prominent societal problem and that through their engagements in the novels, they hope to bring about a much needed societal change.
References
Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann
Aziza, N. (2020). ‘Honing, Loving and Nurturing: A Mother’s Role in Family’. Martabat:
Journal Perempuan dan Anak. Vol 14, No 2. Accessed at https://www.researchgate.net on 27/5/25
Birong, A. (2023). ‘Mother – What is a Mom?’ Brainz Magazine. Accessed at
www.brainzmagazine.com on 30/5/25
Egbekpalu, E.P. (2022). ‘The Nobility and Sacredness of Motherhood: African-Existential
Perspective’. Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development. Vol. 5 No. 1. Accessed at https://www.apas.org on 30/5/25
Falola, T (Ed). (2005). Igbo History and Society: The Essay of Adiele Afigbo. Trenton:
African World Press
Gittins, D. (1993). ‘What is Family? Is it Universal?’ In The Family in Question: Women in
Society. London: Palgrave. Accessed at https://link.springer.com on 27/5/25
Gomez, J.M and Freyd, J.J. (2019). ‘Betrayal Trauma’. In J.J Ponzetti (Ed). Macmillan
Encyclopaedia of Intimate and Family Relationships: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Boston. Cengage Learning Inc.
Gomez, L. (1997). An Introduction to Object Relations. New York: NYU Press
Kilanko, Y. (2014). Daughters Who Walk This Path. Nigeria: Kachifo Limited
Mohammed, H. (2020). ‘Caring and Empowering the Girl Child’. Blueprint Newspapers.
Blueprint Newspapers Limited. Accessed at https://blueprint.ng on 27/5/25
Nadaswaran, S. (2011). ‘Rethinking Family Relationships in Third Generation Nigerian
Women’s Fiction’. Relief. Vol 5 (1). Accessed at https://www.revue-relief.org
Namu, V. (2021). ‘Growing up with an Absentee Mother: A Deep Dive into the Impacts on
the Child’. QAZINI. Accessed at www.qazini.com on 27/5/25
Okafor, P.S and Nnubia, U. (2013). ‘The Nigerian Child and National Development: A
Philosophical Appraisal’. Journal of Education and Social Research. Vol 3(4). Accessed at https://www.academia.edu on 28/5/25
Okparanta, C. (2016). Under the Udala Trees. Nigeria: Kachifo Limited
Onyeagasi, U. (n.d). ‘The Family as the Bedrock for Societal Transformation’. Accessed at
https://www.academia.edu on 25/5/25
Owonibi, S and Gaji, O. (2017). ‘Identity and the Absent Mother in Atta’s Everything
Good will Come. TydskrifVirLetterkunde. Vol 54, No 2. Accessed at https://www.academia.edu on 30/5/25
Sadaqatullah, S, Jamal, A and Jamil, S.S. (2012). ‘Role of Mother in Child Health’.
Hamdard Medicus Vol 55, No 3. Accessed at https://applications.emro.who.int on 28/5/25
Shah, Pir H. (2023). ‘The Wonderful Role of a Mother in the Family’. Fair Observer.
Accessed at https://www.researchgate.net on 25/5/25
WHO. ‘UN Convention on the Rights of a Child – Child Friendly Version’. https://www.unicef.org
