Causes, effects, and feminist antidotes to trafficking in Amma Darko’s beyond the horizon, literary and linguistic perspectives on orality, literacy and gender studies

Abstract

Human trafficking constitutes one of the various migration configurations in Africa. Amrna Darko's Beyond the Horizon is a literary representation of some of the causes and effects of trafficking in humans, such as we have seen in recent times where African migrants in search of greener pastures outside the continent are trafficked to Libya, for example. This paper focuses on the whys and wherefores of trafficking in females and their consequent resistance of it. ln this relation, the study uncovers the practical utility of feminism in Africa, especially at a time when many African women are wondering how the mantra of feminism can translate into their maternal well-being. Adopting the feminist theories of Obionma Nnaemeka (nego-feminism) and Catherine MacKinnon (consciousness-raising and sexuality) in the analysis of Amma Darko's Beyond the Horizon enables us to understand the dynamics of gender inequality in more profound ways. This paper submits that Amma Darko's presentation of the trafficked females is realistic about their enforced passivity, second-class status, and humiliation. The various acts of brutal sexual intercourse are interpreted as the display of male power, since male pleasure, as we find in the text, seems to be inextricably tied to victimising, hurting and exploiting.