Christian Romance Novels through the Eyes of West African Women
Start Date
13-4-2018 5:10 PM
End Date
13-4-2018 6:10 PM
Proposal Type
Individual Presentation
Abstract
The romance novel has been a source of ridicule and criticism ever since its inception and most especially due to its consumption by women. Scholars such as Tania Modleski and Janice Radway arguing that it actually empowers women of which African women are included. However, there exists little or no scholarship on African Romance novels or even Romance novels based on Africa. My paper, therefore, seeks to address the scarcity of African romance novels which special attention to West African women. It is interesting to find out that mostly Christian authors have been able to combine these two powerful themes into a novel that entertain while evangelizing to people. The West African woman like every other in the Western world enjoy romance novels, however, there exist very literature on African Romance novels. My paper seeks to determine if the few African romance novels are written and published by African press follow the romance formula and most importantly, do these books be used by feminists to empower more women or are these novels in tune with the African cultures and religious beliefs that endorses patriarchal rule. My paper will use the use the novel of Unoma Nwankwor’s “An Unexpected Blessing” and Lynn Neal’s “Romancing God” since the novel falls under Christian romance and African women are noted to be religious; thus shedding more light on the relevance of this little-recognized issue.
Christian Romance Novels through the Eyes of West African Women
The romance novel has been a source of ridicule and criticism ever since its inception and most especially due to its consumption by women. Scholars such as Tania Modleski and Janice Radway arguing that it actually empowers women of which African women are included. However, there exists little or no scholarship on African Romance novels or even Romance novels based on Africa. My paper, therefore, seeks to address the scarcity of African romance novels which special attention to West African women. It is interesting to find out that mostly Christian authors have been able to combine these two powerful themes into a novel that entertain while evangelizing to people. The West African woman like every other in the Western world enjoy romance novels, however, there exist very literature on African Romance novels. My paper seeks to determine if the few African romance novels are written and published by African press follow the romance formula and most importantly, do these books be used by feminists to empower more women or are these novels in tune with the African cultures and religious beliefs that endorses patriarchal rule. My paper will use the use the novel of Unoma Nwankwor’s “An Unexpected Blessing” and Lynn Neal’s “Romancing God” since the novel falls under Christian romance and African women are noted to be religious; thus shedding more light on the relevance of this little-recognized issue.