Women’s Objectification as Depicted in Beyala’s The Sun Hath Looked Upon me and in Phiri’s The Highway Queen

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to literary discourse by carrying out a comparative and
contrastive analysis of the image of the rebellious woman in The sun hath looked upon me
written by Calixthe Beyala and The Highway Queen written by Violet Phiri. Drawing from the
depiction of the unruly woman in the African society, this article explores the expressive
function of literature to define prostitution which is viewed as the most disreputable female
career. The objective is to accentuate the instability caused by prostitution on the woman and her
family and also on the creation of invisible masculinities. This reading is grounded on De
Beauvoir’s school of thought “one is not born a woman but rather becomes. Moreover, this work
determines that literature has a part to play in our communities. It is concluded that women
become prostitutes when the society treats them unfairly