The Treatment of Women in Selected Works by Bessie Head

Abstract

The role of women in Africa is one of the most notable issues in modern African literature. African novelists focus on roles held by women in the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial periods, alongside the effect of colonization on African women. This study is a serious attempt at providing a comprehensive analytical investigation of the role of women in Bessie Head’s selected works: When Rain Clouds Gather (1969), The Collector of Treasures, and Other Botswana Village Tales (1977). It demonstrates how traditional societies and colonizers treat African women and the influence of Head’s personal life and background on her literary works. Various studies focus on the issue of women using the feminist approach. This study, however, concentrates on women's issues using feminist and post-colonial theories.