Analysis Of Obstetric Fistula As Tragic Effect Of Child Marriage In Zaynab Alkali’s The Descendants And Maryam Bobi’s Bongel

Abstract

This study explores the obstetric fistula as lethal consequence of child marriage in Zaynab Alkali’s The Descendants and Maryam Bobi’s Bongel, amplifying the ordeal and traumatic circumstances child brides are subjected to as young females in patriarchal societies particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. Albeit child marriage and its accompanying travails have long existed in Nigeria and Africa at large, African female novelists have scarcely explored the accompanying fistula health problem in their creative oeuvres. However, contemporary northern Nigerian female writers have mustered the courage to uncover the traumatic health issues inundating child marriage, especially obstetric fistula and the consequent abandonment, towards engendering optimism and profound agency on the victims while systematically reprimanding the practice through their creative endeavors. This study adopts the African Feminist theory with particular emphasis on “Motherism” to x-ray the trails and travails of child brides compelled to shoulder the onus of motherhood at a tender age, through textual analysis. The study finds that, through the selected texts, Zaynab Alkali and Maryam Bobi condemn the resulting effects of child marriage, that is, obstetric fistula, abandonment, and social stigmatization. It is stressed that victims of child marriage, and especially those affected by obstetric fistula experience untold suffering in a highly patriarchal African society, however, when shown love, care, and financial support, they can achieve healing from the emotional, physical, and psychological trauma that flank their disdainful and horrendous experiences.