The Dilemma of the Post-modern Woman: Asserting the Female Voice in Zaynab Alkali’s Cobwebs and Other Stories

Abstract

This paper examines the representation of the postmodern Woman in Alkali’s Cobwebs and Other Stories. It argues that the postmodern condition and its tendency to question traditional, social and religious structures opens up a space within the patriarchal system for women to assert their identity especially in their search for meaning and happiness. Using Lyotard’s argument of “incredulity towards metanarratives” as analytical lens, this paper examines how the female characters respond to the postmodern condition. The paper finds that the main characters in the selected short stories are confronted with the dilemma of choosing between fulfilling their personal dreams and motherhood or the cultural and religious expectations of traditional society. It concludes that the postmodern condition empowers the female characters in the selected short stories with the capacity to interrogate beliefs and cultural systems that trample on their right to happiness and freedom. Thus the need to assert the female voice has become a recurring theme in postmodern fiction.