Voice of an Ibuza Woman: A study on Buchi Emecheta’s The Bride Price

Abstract

The Bride Price is one of Buchi Emecheta’s most influential modern novels, which expresses the plight of African women from childhood to womanhood. The story is set in an industrialized urban center, and will later contrast with the traditional, society. Aku-nna wants to make her father proud of her and she is determined to marry well so as to bring her father good bride price. In Ibuza, Marriage arrangement involves the whole community and the bride must accept the husband chosen for her by her people. The bride price must also be paid otherwise the bride will die during childbirth. Relegated to the background by both the colonial powers and the patriarchal society, African women have become aware of their own marginalization and they have decided not to suffer the excesses of tradition but rather to resist some traditional beliefs that alienate their lives. From a feminist approach, this article tries to explore the trauma and experiences in a male-dominated society and the African women’s role in the bride price negotiation. It also invites women to get rid of the traditional customs that inhibit and devastate lives.