Graduate Studies

 

First Advisor

Kwame Dawes

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Committee Members

Chigozie Obioma, Jonis Agee, Dawne Curry

Department

English

Date of this Version

7-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Major: English (Creative Writing)

Under the supervision of Professor Kwame Dawes

Lincoln, Nebraska, July 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, the author. Used by permission

Abstract

The short stories in this collection offer diverse and expansive realities of the human condition, particularly around the lives of women—their identities, bodies, emotions, and how they live and navigate a social order that is often constructed to dominate and undermine them. How can we complicate marginalized portrayals of women shaped by the male gaze and interrogate the patriarchal presumption of the African woman? What different approaches should be employed in capturing different aspects of her domestic and social life, how she defines and expresses autonomy, how she subverts gender norms, and her experiences of emotional and physical violence? These guiding questions have been crucial in thinking about the kinds of female characters present in the collection and what ideas underlie how they navigate conditions of motherhood, widowhood, and victimhood, as well as developing their identities as independent, powerful, and agentic women. Set in contemporary Ghana, a majority of the stories in the collection are character-driven, with a focus on engaging the psychological and emotional to reveal complicated truths, shattering histories, and the extraordinary stakes in relationships. Whether taking an act of revenge against one’s mother or choosing to survive in a violent household, these characters are fierce, nonconformists, and surprisingly complex. As they reckon with the state of their shattering worlds, they are forced to confront the truth about themselves and the people in their lives. With unabashed vulnerability, the stories explore humanity’s deepest desires, hidden motives, and the reverberations of trauma through the years. While portraits of grief and brutality are rendered, a world of possibility is offered in hope, love, and recovery.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

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