LANGUAGE IN FEMINIST LITERATURE: A STUDY OF ZULU SOFOLA'S WEDLOCK OF THE GODS AND TESS ONWUEME’S THEN SHE SAID IT

ABSTRACT This study examines the ideological and transformative function of language in feminist African drama, focusing on Zulu Sofola’s Wedlock of the Gods and Tess Onwueme’s Then She Said It. It explores how language, expressed through dialogue, silence, metaphor, proverbs, and performative rituals, serves as a tool for resistance, identity formation, and cultural redefinition. Through textual analysis, the study reveals how patriarchal and neocolonial systems weaponize language to enforce gender oppression. In Wedlock of the Gods, proverbs and economic metaphors commodify women, while Then She Said It exposes how political rhetoric silences female voices. The study highlights feminist subversion through linguistic strategies. Sofola’s protagonist, Ogwoma, rejects oppressive widowhood rituals through defiant speech, reclaiming agency. Onwueme’s characters employ collective chants, satire, and Pidgin English to dismantle patriarchal and neocolonial discourse. Both plays also address intersectionality, demonstrating how gender oppression intersects with class, tradition, and colonialism. While celebrating resistance, the texts acknowledge its material constraints, Ogwoma’s tragic fate contrasts with Onwueme’s collective activism, suggesting different pathways to liberation. Ultimately, this research underscores language as a site of power and resistance in feminist African drama. Sofola and Onwueme employ distinct yet complementary strategies, individual defiance versus collective action, to challenge oppressive structures and redefine African womanhood. Their works contribute to feminist literary discourse by validating speech and silence as acts of resistance and advocating for intersectional approaches to gender justice. The study recommends further research on African feminist playwrights, pedagogical integration of these texts, and the adaptation of their themes for contemporary feminist activism and cultural preservation.