SEMIOTICS OF MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY IN PATRILINEAL AND MATRILINEAL CONTEXTS: A STUDY OF JOHN MUNONYE’S OBI AND ASARE KONADU’S A WOMAN IN HER PRIME6

Abstract

This paper identifies and contextually analyses about one hundred and thirty (130) sayings and metaphorical utterances from two West African novels – John Munonye’s Obi (1969) and Asare Konadu’s A Woman in her Prime (1969) to uncover genderdeterminants and male-female tenor. After overviewing the conceptual and theoretical background drawing on the gender-theory and semiotics, the study reveals that these proverbs and metaphors encode so much on gender-variables that they help to deduce the male-female interpersonality and the ideology that governs gender symbols and relations in the novels. Indeed, form the contextual analysis of the symbols used for strong and weak men, for strong and weak women and for the male and female partners in a ‘union’, the study contends that gender is more spiritual and cultural than biological and may have little to do with sex differences.