Voices from the Hearth: An Afro-Feminist Reading of Accad’s Wounding Words

This paper explores traces of African rooted feminisms in Evelyne Accad’s Wounding Words. Accad’s work explores the definition and boundaries of Lebanese/Arabic feminism. Accad’s Wounding Words is critically examined to assess how the central female characters exhibit and portray African centered feminist ideologies. This study holds the assertion that the particular literary tradition portrayed in Wounding Words seems to be patterned after has the feminist struggle in Africa. The study reveals that Arabic feminism appears to mirror African feminism closely. In the strive to dominate the feminist discourse and channel it to focus on their socio-cultural realities, Accad, just like African feminists, has practically theorized concepts which are inherent in Nego-Feminism, Snail Sense Feminism and Womanism among others. All these feminist theories are anchored on negotiation and complementarity as the primary tools of engagement in the fight for gender equality and equity. Finally, the study reveals the universality of female modes of suppression. It also highlights the institutionalized nature of the feminist struggle as well as the adopted stratagems to dismantle oppression.