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style
Emecheta's
style is rooted in her culture - she describes herself as a
storyteller. In the Ibo Community, as in other African cultures,
there is an oral tradition - where stories are passed on by
telling them aloud to a group of people. One technique they
used was call and response, where the storyteller begins by
having a dialogue with the listeners. Emecheta believes
that the oral tradition has influenced her style:
| "Some of those books are written as if I want the reader to think I'm there in the room with them and the idea is to make the reader feel I am the big mother telling the story so you don't have time to go around describing the world, I put all those things a bit but I try to limit them, just concentrate on the story.
You can evoke such emotions especially when feel deeply about what you are talking about even if you use ordinary language. I think that is my style
"
Buchi
Emecheta
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Emecheta uses a very simple style with everyday language rather
than complex metaphors or symbols. But she emphasises that this
language can be just as powerful in evoking an emotional reaction
in the reader. This extract is from The Joys of Motherhood,
where, at the end of the story, Nnu Ego finds herself alone...
 The joys of motherhood
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