Madjerali, RawiaNezzar, KanzaZerrouki, Zina2024-10-232024-10-232024http://dspace.univ-oeb.dz:4000/handle/123456789/20238Gender issues are among the most addressed topics in modern and postcolonial literature. Unlike the African male authors who typically portray female characters as background figures depicted from a very masculine standpoint, the famous postcolonial writer Ngugi WaThiong’o has his unique way of portraying women. On this account, this study delves into the multifaceted portrayal of women and the interplay between patriarchy and colonial oppression in Ngugi WaThiong’o’s seminal novel The River Between. To do so, we will emphasize the experiences of the major female characters of the novel; Muthoni, Nyambura, and Miriamu in order to explore the spirit of rebellion which allows them to resist the dual forces of colonial oppression and patriarchy. The aim of this research is to examine the complex relationship between the body, motherhood, cultural change and the dynamics of gender oppression and empowerment borrowing concepts from radical feminism and postcolonial feminism. In other words, this study attempts to explain how such aspects as the female body and motherhood might be oppressing and empowering at the same time. In the main, our research seeks to indicate that The River Between does not only function as a critique of patriarchy and the effects of colonial rule but also attempts to give voice to the oppressed gender.enOther