Between Two Choices: A Re-reading of Mariama Bâ’s Une si Longue Lettre
Sikiru Adeyemi Ogundokun

Abstract
There is no hullabaloo about the dynamism of every culture. However, people, all over the world, cannot be absolutely separated from their history and culture. In all artistic creations, context of situation, which dwells much on cultural and/or environmental elements, plays a key role since there is a serious link between art and the society which produces it. This paper examines gender issue, which has become a contemporary world affair. As its purpose, the paper seeks gender equality and preaches for unconditional fair treatment for women. Using Mariama Bâ’s Une si longue lettre as a yardstick, the paper explains the relationship between feminism and womanism with a view to articulate the need for such movements as well as to validate the necessity for mutual understanding between men and women in the sincere call for nation building and human development. Feminist criticism is the theoretical framework which provides roots for our discussion. The study concludes that women in the whole wide world have suffered almost similar fate, always oppressed, used and dumped and painfully too, they are hooked by legislations, cultural and religious practices. Hence, there is the need for a redress.

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