DISINTEGRATING PHALLOCENTRISM: A FEMINIST REIMAGINING OF GENDER HIERARCHIES IN THE VISIT BY CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE AND THE SECRET LIVES OF BABA SEGI'S WIVES BY LOLA SHONEYIN

This study examines how Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Visit and Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives disintegrate phallocentrism and reimagine gender hierarchies in African literature. Using womanism as the theoretical framework, chosen for its cultural specificity and emphasis on survival, communal well-being, and wholeness, the research explores how both writers critique patriarchal authority while positioning women as agents of transformation. Through close textual analysis, the study argues that Adichie employs satire and dystopian inversion to expose the arbitrariness of male dominance, while Shoneyin’s realist narrative highlights women’s resilience and strategic resistance within the patriarchal institution of polygamy. Despite their stylistic differences, both authors affirm that patriarchy is neither natural nor immutable. The research further contends that womanism provides a culturally grounded alternative to Western feminism by emphasizing collective survival over antagonism and redefining power through solidarity, truth, and communal care. Ultimately, the study concludes that the disintegration of phallocentrism in African literature occurs not through confrontation or mere reversal, but through the womanist reimagining of women as cultural agents and custodians of social renewal. This work contributes to feminist literary scholarship by reaffirming literature’s role in envisioning more equitable and sustainable gender relations within African societies.