Daughters of Anowa

by Mercy Amba Oduyoye

Daughters of Anowa provides an analysis of the lives of African women today from an African woman's own perspective. It is a study of the influence of culture and religion—particularly of traditional African cultures and Christianity—on African women's lives. Mercy Amba Oduyoye illustrates how myths, proverbs, and folk tales (called "folktalk") operate in the socialization of young women, working to preserve the norms of the community. Daughters of Anowa reveals how global patriarchy manifests itself in these social structures, in both patrilineal and matrilineal communities.

Organized as a narrative in three cycles, Daughters of Anowa demonstrates how folktalk alienates women from power, discourages individuality and encourages conformity. It also considers the possibilities for the future. Oduyoye posits that change will come about only when the daughters of Anowa (the mythic representative of Africa itself) confront the realities of culture and religion in perpetuating patriarchal oppression and work to realize the goal of a new woman in a new Africa.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theology

226 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Debbie Blane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Mercy Amba Oduyoye. I will be using some of the material in my own teaching at the Nile Theological College in Khartoum.

The author addresses the pain that the culture of Africa causes to African women. She also speaks to the liberation of Scripture as a tool of patriarchy and oppression.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being published in 1995, I found this book extremely relevant and prescient. On some level, it makes me so sad that people ignored the prophetic words of folks like Mercy Amba Oduyoye.

For example, she writes "One form of rhetoric that I feel is equally dangerous to women is that of right-wing christianity. Christian fundamentalism seems to be making a fresh attempt to promote the image of the Christian woman who is economically dependent on her husband and who spends long leisure
hours in the service of religion, distributing tracks and doing 'charitable works'."

Equally prophetic are her words on the failures of Western feminism to address the needs of majority world women in any meaningful way. "In their zeal to speak for women from the third world, they have often focused on cultural manifestations they have not sufficiently understood and they have thereby alienated the very people they set out to include... our well-meaning sisters should consider that the African woman should be empowered to tell her own story, or else be left alone."

While there is a lot of commentary on how colonialism, western feminism, and Christian theology have negatively impacted African women, the bulk of this book explores how African myth and "folktalk" have been used against women. She speaks most about the 2 cultures she has direct experience in: the Alan people of modern-day Ghana she was born into, and the Yoruba of modern day Nigeria. One of the most interesting parts of this book is how Oduyoye juxtaposes the Matrilineal Akan with the Patrilineal Yoruba, while demonstrating that both societies are rooted in patriarchy and fail women.

While Mercy Amba Oduyoye identifies as Christian, the book is rooted in the fact that you cannot separate Tradition African Religion's cultural influence from any other religion in Africa, whether it be Christianity and Islam. The bulk of the book explores the common myths and folktalk of the Akan and Yoruba people, and how they combine with other religion to unnecessarily promote patriarchy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, learned a ton, and would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about how patriarchy manifests outside of a white, western context.