Gender Relations and Identity Construction in Abimbola Adelakun’s Under the Brown Rusted Roofs at Romanus Aboh & Eno Akpa:

ABSTRACT
A survey of existing works soon makes it. apparent that there are many approaches to the study of gender relations. Extensive treatment of the subject, from a feminist linguistic perspective, can be found in the literature. However, very few studies have combined feminist linguistics and the perspectives of Sapir-Wharf linguistic hypothesis in illustrating how language use aligns with society ‘s expectation in shaping gender relations. This paper, combing aspects of feminist linguistics and Sapir-Wharf linguistic relativity, investigates the place of language in the construction of gendered identity in Abimbola Adelakun is Under the Brown Rusted Roofs. Adelakun’s novel is among several African novels which have drawn attention to the use of language in depicting unequal gender relations in an African community. Yet, studies on her novel have paid scant attention to the interface between discursive use of language and gendered identity construction. The analysis -shows that men use language in a dysphemistic manner to describe women as evil, objects to be traded between men and as sexual objects.

Keywords: gender relations, identity, masculinity, women, subjugation