The female protagonist’s intersection with the African world of actuality in Beyala’s novel Tu t’appelleras Tanga

Abstract

In order to overcome the silence that had been instilled by colonialism, several postcolonial female writers employ fiction to restore their local culture and reflect on their representation in historical writings. For female writers, literature often becomes a medium through which they can become active agents of their own destiny by establishing a voice for themselves. Writing becomes a means of reclaiming traditional discourses relating to women. The following study is primarily focused on Calixthe Beyala, a Franco-Cameroonian novelist, and specifically concentrates on the manner in which Beyala makes use of her female protagonist in Tu t’appelleras Tanga to portray the realities facing African Francophone females. The study aims at illustrating that the female protagonist plays a critical role in mirroring both the conditions of females in African societies and the conditions pertaining to Womanism in a universal context. Through the analysis of the role of the protagonist, the study reveals that there seems to be a relationship between fiction and society which is definite enough for fictional characters to be used as prototypes for social roles and attitudes.