Thursday 23 January 2014

Nigerian Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks on african women


 Extract from Claire Cohen’s article of Telegraph ( Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  tells Claire Cohen of her determination to bust the 'Cinderella myth' and change traditional expectations of her fellow Nigerian women.)

"In Nigeria, domestic abuse it still present in a very significant way,". "People say to women, 'he beats you, but did you do anything? Did you not cook dinner on time?' We need to educate them.

 "Without marriage you're not complete there. I know a middle-class woman who owned her own house, but was single and worried that men were intimidated. So she sold her house to find a husband. We can't blame poverty. It's a way of thinking that a lot of us have internalised."

"My nephew is 13, my niece 11 and they're growing up in England. Once I was at their house and my nephew was hungry. So his mother said to my niece ' go and make him some noodles'. I said, 'wait, why can't he make his own noodles?' I suddenly realised, that although both of these children are doing well at school and are equally smart, the girl is still expected to cook for him.

"I was really upset. Sometimes you go to Nigerian homes and the men are starving. There's food in the kitchen, but they're waiting for the woman. So, for me, that was very striking. I'm happy to report that my sister-in-law said 'OK we'll teach him how to make noodles now.' I was like good. We're making progress."

About Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  (born in1977) is a writer from Nigeria ; She has been called "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors [that] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature". Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), received wide critical acclaim; it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2005).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie became a household name after writing her acclaimed novel, Half of a Yellow Sun. For the full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9995563/Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie-women-dont-want-simpering-heroines.html