Home, Other homes and Gender in Sarah Ladipo’s In Dependence and Diana Evans’ 26a

Abstract

This paper examines the concept of home, other homes and gender through the characters in Ladipo’sIn Dependence and Evans 26a. It rejects the general notion that home is a place of ancestral connection where the relationship between people is static and unbroken; it argues that home have multidimensional meanings which is dependent on the life situations of the characters. It further argues that places where one lived in life can become a home (other homes) considering the experiences of life faced in such places. Ladipo’s characters question their identities in life at the contact with a foreign culture while Evans’ character also contest their place as children of mixed marriage and cultural contacts. The study uses a phenomenographic frame work to explore underlying issues experienced by the characters in a bid to define and discover their identity.