Family Growth and Continuity, in Akpan Egbuna’s The African Widow and Dupe Olorunjo’s Tailed
Conference: The 23rd Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association (ISA) (2026)
Presenter(s): Chinwendu A. Nwizu
Presentation Date: May 15, 2026 @ 16:00 PM
Room: Anambra/Delta
Tags: Conference 2026
Abstract
The vision to build a good and developed society begins at the family. This paper examines the Igbo concept of “Oso Ndu Agwu Ike” - the struggles of life through resilience, which is explored in Akpan Egbuna The African Widow and Dupe Olorunjo’s Tailed. This paper examines family growth, parenting, and overcoming existential challenges through resilience in the novels, The African Widow and Tailed. It examines how parents navigate the path of family building for sustainability and continuity through resilience by exploring various strategies of Igbo parenting and their attendant challenges. This paper employs postcolonial theory and a moral approach in its literary studies investigations. It discovers that the family grows towards continuity with optimum resilience and proper parenting, and child/children upbringing and training. Single parenting comes with its attendant problems, and dual parenting also has its own challenges, but in all, resilience in parenting creates the enabling platform for overcoming challenges that affect existence, because when children are properly trained, they turn out well for the good of society. It is expected that both parents and children should develop resilience to ensure survival and achieve family growth, stability, and continuity. It is recommended that both single and dual parents should be committed to building stable families through firm, resilient, and proper parenting to ensure youth development and proper positioning of the family for growth, stability and sustainable development.
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