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I called the book Changes, because I see primarily a character like Esi the protagonist as being a part of those who are trying to define, or even redefine woman as a lover, as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, even as a granddaughter. . . . That's why I called the book Changes. In the meantime, it was fascinating to note that, for instance, my Dutch publishers titled the Dutch version of the book Choices. So, they saw her as somebody who had to deal with the issue of choices.
"Interview with Ama Ata Aidoo," by Ada Uzoamaka Azodo
INTRODUCTION
Ghanaian author Ama Ata Aidoo stands out among today's many talented and prominent African women writers for her widely acclaimed novels depicting the role of African women in a changing world. Like many people of her generation Aidoo witnessed Ghana's 1957 transition from British colony to independent state, as well as the conflicting interests and competing power bases that emerged in its post-independence years.
Specifically, in the 1980s Ghana went through changes of governments, military coups, and economic downturns that affected not only the rural but also the urban populations. In an era of growing globalization and a new world order such turmoil brought about a new set of changes.
This reaper analyzes the various social, economic, and cultural Conflicts and challenges Ama Ata Aidoo's female characters experience in her 1991 novel Changes: A Love Story, which takes place mainly in urban environments in West Africa and Europe in the 1980s. It has been praised by many literary critics for its thought-provoking portrayal of African women's redefined roles in their post-independence urban environment, and in 1993 it won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Africa region.
The story line is about three Ghanaian professional women, Esi, Opokuya, and Fusena, who deal differently with family issues and make attempts to juggle their many obligations toward their husbands, children, and careers in the 1980s. Nevertheless, their husbands are impervious to their feminist thinking and remain unsympathetic. Esi chooses to divorce, prioritizing her career and willingly entering a polygamous marriage - which ultimately becomes an exchange of one set of challenges for another. On the other hand, Opokuya stays in her monogamous marriage despite her...