Emotions in Muslim Hausa Women’s Fiction: More than Just Romance

This book examines the emotions expressed in Hausa women’s prose fiction in northern Nigeria, showing how Hausa Muslim women writers use fiction in their indigenous language to demonstrate and express their anger about the problems they face in a patriarchal society. Umma Aliyu Musa shows how Hausa women authors use literature as a subversive instrument to voice their anger and draw attention to their plight, and what they perceive to be unfair traditional authority in a male-dominated society. Their stories about women protagonists who rebel against existing traditional structures enable women readers to understand the anger experienced by other women who have gone through similar situations. Issues at the heart of these women's narratives include forced marriage, polygyny, family honor and the effects of love. The authors' use of metaphorical expressions of anger, particularly those registered through body parts, provides insight into Hausa women's thoughts, culture and socialization within their private spheres. Thus, writing by these women in the Hausa language creates an effective communication network that offers insight into domestic ecology as it affects women. Emotions in Muslim Hausa Women's Fiction will be of interest to scholars and students of African literature, postcolonial literature, gender studies in African society, womanism, emotions and indigenous African fiction studies.