Buchi Emecheta
Buchi Emecheta
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Flora Ida Okoro, commonly known as Buchi Emecheta (1944-2017), was a Nigerian-British novelist, short story writer, and feminist.
Birth and Death Dates
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Buchi Emecheta was born on July 21, 1944, in Lagos, Nigeria. She passed away on January 25, 2017, at the age of 72.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Emecheta held both Nigerian and British nationalities. Throughout her life, she worked as a novelist, short story writer, and feminist activist.
Early Life and Background
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Born into an Igbo family in Lagos, Nigeria, Emecheta's early life was marked by struggles against poverty and patriarchy. Her mother, who died when Buchi was just 10 years old, encouraged her love for reading and writing. After completing her primary education, Emecheta moved to London with her husband, Sylvester Okoroafor. However, she soon discovered that he had abandoned her, leaving her a widow at the age of 21.
In an attempt to support herself and her three children, Emecheta worked as a nurse's aide, but eventually found solace in writing. Her experiences with poverty, racism, and sexism inspired much of her work.
Major Accomplishments
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Emecheta is widely recognized for her contributions to African literature and feminism. Her novels often explored themes of identity, culture, and female empowerment.
Some notable accomplishments include:
Becoming the first Black woman to publish a novel in English with _The Bride Price_ (1976)
Founding the Association of Nigerian Authors
Serving as a board member for organizations promoting African literature and women's rightsNotable Works or Actions
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Some notable works by Emecheta include:
The Bride Price (1976) - her first novel, which explores themes of arranged marriage and cultural expectations
Second Class Citizen (1974) - a semi-autobiographical novel about her experiences as a Nigerian woman in Britain
The Joys of Motherhood (1982) - a novel that delves into the struggles faced by women, particularly mothers
Impact and Legacy
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Emecheta's writing not only reflected her own experiences but also gave voice to countless others. Her work helped raise awareness about issues affecting African women, including poverty, racism, and domestic violence.
Her legacy extends beyond her written works; she inspired generations of writers and feminist activists worldwide.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Buchi Emecheta is widely quoted and remembered for several reasons:
Pathbreaking contributions to African literature: Her work paved the way for future generations of Black women writers, breaking cultural and linguistic barriers.
Feminist activism: Through her writing, she advocated for women's rights and challenged patriarchal norms, influencing feminist movements globally.
* Unapologetic storytelling: Emecheta's narratives were unflinching in their portrayal of hardship, racism, and sexism, earning her a reputation as a fearless storyteller.
Quotes by Buchi Emecheta
Relatives watching wanted and expected me to break down and cry, thereby devaluing my inner sorrow. Maybe if I had not stayed in cold England for eighteen years – England, a country where people cry in their hearts and not with their eyes – I would have done so. Eighteen years is a long time, and like the people I live with, I cried in my heart.
Living entirely off writing is a precarious existence and money is always short, bit with careful management and planning I found I could keep my head and those of my family, through God’s grace, above water.
Yet the more I think about it the more I realise that we women set impossible standards for ourselves. That we make life intolerable for one another. I cannot live up to your standards, senior wife. So I have to set my own.
As soon as I finish a book, I sell the paperback rights to different publishers and that’s where I recoup my money.
At home in Nigeria, all a mother had to do for a baby was wash and feed him and, if he was fidgety, strap him onto her back and carry on with her work while that baby slept. But in England she had to wash piles and piles of nappies, wheel the child round for sunshine during the day, attend to his feeds as regularly as if one were serving a master, talk to the child, even if he was only a day old! Oh, yes, in England, looking after babies was in itself a full-time job.
Nnaife did not realise that Dr Meers’s laughter was inspired by that type of wickedness that reduces any man, white or black, intelligent or not, to a new low; lower than the basest of animals, for animals at least respected each other’s feelings, each other’s dignity.
Being a woman writer, I would be deceiving myself if I said I write completely through the eye of a man. There’s nothing bad in it, but that does not make me a feminist writer. I hate that name. The tag is from the Western world – like we are called the Third World.
The leaves were still on the trees, but were becoming dry, perched like birds ready to fly off.
The first book I wrote was The Bride Price which was a romantic book, but my husband burnt the book when he saw it. I was the typical African woman, I’d done this privately, I wanted him to look at it, approve it and he said he wouldn’t read it.