Kambili’s Journey to Dignity, and Self-empowerment : A Womanist Approach to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

Abstract: Using womanist theory as a theoretical framework, this study has analyzed identity formation and self-empowerment. Adichie is considered a feminist writer, but her ideals and ideas are very different from Western ideals and aim to survive and challenge patriarchal culture. In her debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, Adichie argues for a change in society's attitude toward the oppression of women and children. Adichie articulates a womanist ideology that relates to universal human suffering. This study considers the postcolonial background of the main characters, who confront the hybridity that occurs with identities that encounter a postcolonial culture. The domination of women is the most basic form of female subjugation in postcolonial Nigerian society. This is largely due to the cultural influences of patriarchal culture inherent in African society, which promotes prejudice against women and accepts violence against women and children as normal. Patriarchal violence is analyzed to explain how surveillance and punishment imprison the characters in the novel and isolate them from others. This analysis aims to show that liberation from oppression is only possible through unity with others, courage, and the achievement of dignity.