The Subaltern Status of Nigerian Widows due to Patriarchy in Lonely Days

Abstract

This research attempts to explore the subalternity of Nigerian widows in Bayo Adebowale’s Lonely Days while employing the feminist lens of Gayatri Spivak. The methodology applied is a qualitative-interpretive by applying the textual analysis model of Catherine Belsey (2013). As portrayed in the selected novel, consequent upon the death of their husbands, the widows of Kufian village of Nigeria face subalternity i.e., dehumanization and speechlessness due to patriarchal oppression.  Patriarchal hegemony disallows social mobility of the widows including their right to remarry according to their will. Widows are forced to remarry through a humiliating ritual of cap-picking ceremony. The findings show that females do not have the right to decide about their lives. Those who rebel the patriarchal authority have to face humiliation, confiscation of property, social ostracism, and loneliness. This paper concludes that widows are made victimized, marginalized and voiceless due to oppression caused by patriarchy.