Molara Ogundipe
Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie (27 December 1940 – 18 June 2019),[1]
also known as Molara Ogundipe, was a Nigerian poet, critic, editor, feminist and activist. Considered
one of the foremost writers on African feminism, gender studies and literary
theory, she was a social critic who came to be
recognized as a viable authority on African women among black feminists and feminists
in general.[2] She contributed the piece "Not
Spinning on the Axis of Maleness" to the 1984 anthology Sisterhood Is Global: The
International Women's Movement Anthology, edited by Robin Morgan.[3] She is most celebrated for coining the
term STIWA or Social Transformation in Africa
Including Women.[4]
Life
Abiodun Omolara Ogundipe was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to a family of educators and clergy. She
attended Queen's School, Ede, and went on to become the first woman to obtain a
first-class BA Honours degree in English at University
College Ibadan, then a college of the University of
London.[5] She later earned a doctorate in Narratology (the theory of
narrative) from Leiden
University, one of the
oldest universities in Europe. She taught English Studies, Writing, Comparative
Literature and Gender from the perspectives of cultural studies and development
at universities in several continents,[6] and was also a Professor of Englsh and
Comparative Lterature at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria.[7] She rose to prominence early in her
career in the midst of a male-dominated artistic field concerned about the
problems afflicting African men and women.
Molara Ogundipe was described as being "at the
forefront of the theoretical dynamism which is unfolding within African
feminism. She has a powerful and deeply ingrained cultural understanding of the
dynamics of gender relations in the pre-colonial and colonial Yoruba society as
a pivot for theory",[8]
Over the years, she was a critic of the oppression of women and argued that
African women are more oppressed in their status and roles as wives. In view of
their multiple identities, in some of which identities they enjoy status,
privilege, recognition and agency. She criticized the plight of African women
as due to the impact of imposed colonial and neo-colonial structures that often
place African males at the height of social stratification. Their plight is
also due to the internalization of patriarchy by African women themselves.[9] She, however, insisted on an
understanding of the complexity of the statuses of African women in their
pre-colonial and indigenous cultures for any useful discussion or study of
African women.
Ogundipe was in the leadership of feminist activism and
gender studies in Africa for decades. She was the Founder and Director of the
Foundation for International Education and Monitoring, which is dedicated to
teaching young women the doctrine and virtues of feminist theories and gender
equality.[6]
She lived and worked in West Africa, where she set up
writing centres at universities, in addition to her work on literature, gender
and film, in contribution to her commitment to inter-generational education and
mentoring.
She is survived by her two daughters: Dr. (Ts'gye Maryam)
Rachel Titilayo Leslie, a scholar of religion in Africa who writes on the
significance of African legacies for global culture, and Dr. Isis Imotara
Leslie, PhD, a political theorist who has taught at several US universities.
Her grandchildren are Askia Tristan Folajimi Leslie, who graduated in Computer
Engineering and Coding from the University
of California, Berkeley, and Joshua Tolu Victoriano, who was recently ordained a
deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Ethiopia.[5]
Writing
Molara Ogundipe was in the leadership of feminist and
gender studies in Africa since graduating in 1963 from the University of
London.[6] She wrote for numerous academic and
general publications, and also published books of non-fiction as well as a
collection of poetry. Her work is included in anthologies of women's writing:
her piece "Not spinning on the axis of Maleness" is in the 1984
anthology Sisterhood Is Global: The
International Women's Movement Anthology, edited by Robin Morgan.[3] and poems by her are in the 1992
anthology Daughters
of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[11]
Criticism
As a Nigerian scholar, critic, educator and activist,
Ogundipe is recognized as one of the foremost writers on African women and
feminism. She argued for an African-centred feminism that she termed
"Stiwanism" (Social Transformation in Africa Including Women) in her
book Recreating Ourselves. A distinguished scholar and literary
theorist, she published numerous works of poetry and literary criticism in
addition to her works cited below.
Stiwanism is concerned with seven principles:
"STIWA" 1) resists Western feminism 2) gives specific attention to
African women in this contemporary moment 3) brings to the forefront indigenous
feminism that has also existed in Africa 4) believes in both inclusion and
participation in the socio-political transformation of the African continent 5)
contends with a woman’s body, personhood, nationhood, and society and how it
operates within socio-economic hierarchies 6) is intentionally specific to the
individual and collective identity (ie. religion, class, and marital status) 7)
recognizes that there are many factors and identities in Africa and individual
personhoods operating in different and contradictory ways.[12]
Ogundipe earlier in her career had posited that a true
feminist writer had to understand or describe effectively a woman's viewpoint
and how to tell the story about a woman. She strongly believed that
rediscovering the role of women in Nigeria's social and political institutions
may be the best way to improve those institutions. She was known as a writer
whose works capture most vividly the complexities of African life. In Re-Creating
Ourselves: African Women and Critical Transformations, she wrote
brilliantly about the dilemma of writing in her traditional language and men's
resistance to gender equality.[2] Through the vast literary experiences
and many gender-related writings, Ogundipe provided "intricate
oeuvre" that enable African feminists to engage in bringing meaningful
changes in issues related to gender, family and society that can drive national
and continental development.[8]
Books
- Sew the Old Days and Other Poems, 1985
- Re-Creating Ourselves: African Women & Critical Transformations, 1994
- (ed.) Women as Oral Artists, 1994
- (ed. with Carole Boyce-Davies) Moving Beyond Boundaries, April 1995 (two volumes).
- Gender and subjectivity. Readings of "Song of Lawino". Dissertation Leiden University. Leiden, CNWS, 1999
Notes
#nationalweekofremembrancefordepartedwriters
No comments:
Post a Comment