Subjugation And Exploitation of The Marginalised African Women in The Select Works of Bessie Head

Abstract

Bessie Emery Head is a twentieth century African writer who has written about the reality of the African society, pre- and post-colonisation. Her focus does not stop with racial subjugation but concentrates more on the double-oppression of racism and gender suffered by the coloured women. This paper studies the oppression, subjugation and exploitation of women not only by the colonisers but by their own men in the name of culture and tradition with reference to some of Head’s works of fiction. Her personal sufferings have enabled her to lend the aura of authenticity to her portrayal of such victimised women.