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That we pay attention to those voices we have been taught to distrust, that we articulate what they teach us [and] act upon what we know.
THIS ESSAY LOOKS AT THE EMERGENT LESBIAN VOICE in Nigerian feminist writing, a voice that is very different from existing feminist writings and positions. The representatives of this voice started to write at a time when newspaper publications became an alternative means of publishing creative works. In the 1990s, publishing houses closed their doors to creative writers due to the economic crunch that Nigeria was, and still is, experiencing. Newspapers such as the Post Express and Vanguard took over the role of publishing houses and first brought this emerging lesbian voice to public notice. The role these newspapers played is historic, because without them this voice may never have been heard.
In January 1997 the British Council held a workshop for budding female writers in Nigeria at the University of Ibadan. This workshop brought with it the emergence of a lesbian voice in Nigerian feminist literature through the works of four women: Titilola Shoneyin, Promise Okekwe, Temilola Abioye, and myself. These new voices portray female characters in sexual/emotional relationships with women. In other words, the works of these authors introduce lesbian characters into their stories, a trend hitherto absent from Nigerian feminist literature.
Thus these authors have challenged the positions of established writers, such as Catherine Acholonu' s concept of motherism, which is a movement that promotes motherhood as a source of empowerment for Nigerian women. Acholonu sees motherism as the main thrust of African literature, particularly women' s writing.2 The idea of motherism might be justifiable, especially with the matrifocal nature of Nigeria; however, it alienates not only women who cannot bear children but also women who choose not to be mothers.
The emerging lesbian voice also stands in sharp contrast to the existing feminist position in Nigeria, which advocates a complementary relationship between men and women. Feminist writers in Nigeria tend to see men as their allies in the fight against social and political oppression and thus to foreclose the representation in their works of romantic/sexual relationships between women. The writers that address the issue of homosexuality in Nigerian literature are therefore establishing new ground.
Ironically, some...