Urban Ambivalence and Female Autonomy

ABSTRACT The politics of self-empowerment and agency by women in an African city can be examined in Changes: A love Story (1991) and Americanah (2013). These texts describe women in the city negotiating relationships in a changing terrain that simultaneously propels and restrains their agency. It is important to foreground the extent to which gender shapes experiences and representations of the city and foregrounds the efforts of Aidoo and Adichie to create imaginative space for women. The struggle faced by the female protagonist to find autonomy in the urban environment often results in the quest of self-discovery and self-identity causing the city to become representative of rebirth and regeneration.