Negotiating Female Agency in Olú Ọbáfẹmí’s Wheels: A Critical Discourse and Stylistic Approach

This study employs feminist stylistics and critical discourse analysis to examine the construction of gender identities in Olú Ọbáfẹmí's Wheels (2000). It investigates how the female characters, Àbẹkẹ and Kẹmi, are represented through linguistic and narrative strategies, including code-switching, transitivity patterns, evaluative lexis, and reported speech. The research demonstrates that the novel negotiates female agency within the tensions of postcolonial Nigerian patriarchy, portraying empowerment alongside constraints imposed by societal norms. Ọbáfẹmí’s use of Yorùbá-English code-switching emerges as a strategic device for cultural assertion and gendered resistance, reflecting both local identity and feminist consciousness. The study critically engages with whether Wheels challenges entrenched gender stereotypes or reproduces subtle patriarchal expectations, highlighting the complexities of female representation in Nigerian literature. Employing close stylistic reading, the study examines how language mediates social roles and reflects power dynamics. Findings reveal that while the novel subverts certain norms, it simultaneously signals ongoing struggles for gender equality, thus offering a nuanced perspective on women’s positioning in postcolonial society. Finally, the study argues that adaptation of Wheels into visual media could amplify its gender discourse, making the negotiation of female agency accessible to wider audiences. By combining literary analysis, linguistic insights, and media considerations, this research contributes to feminist stylistics and African literary scholarship, while foregrounding the cultural and social stakes of gender representation.