Literature for Society: Personal Aspirations and Societal Conformity: A Reading of Lizzie Blackburn’s Yinka, where is Your Huzband?

Abstract

Within most indigenous cultures in Africa, more specifically in Nigeria, marriage is an already set goal for the young female adult to attain. It is seen as a culmination of her success in that, regardless of her social or professional attainments or accomplishments—whether in career, business, or any other field of human experience, if the prefix: ‘Mrs’ is not added to her name, she may not fully enjoy societal respect and approval. The study seeks to examine the undercurrent existing between personal aspirations and societal conformity. Through an assessment of the nuances of marital pressures placed on single ladies within certain age brackets, its implication on their mental health and on society at large, as well as the changing paradigms of relationships and gender dynamics, the study embarks on this literary expedition using Lizzie Damilola’s fiction, Yinka, where is Your Huzband? (2022). The novel, with its exploration of societal expectations, offers a unique vantage point to foster a deeper understanding of the delicate balance individuals must strike between personal aspirations and societal conformity. Theoretically drawing from the sociology of literature and adopting the qualitative research approach, which involves the use of non-numeric data, the study seeks to address this societal pressure on single ladies; and finds out that by conditioning single adult ladies to get married by all means, these ladies are inadvertently exposed to a number of mental health issues; it concludes that a lady can find joy and fulfilment with or without being married; and recommends a social re-engineering in order to address this terrible imbalance which leaves the girl-child at a precarious margin.