Sunday Ayodabo

The thesis seeks to analyse, adopting Carl Jung's theory of the Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, the constructions of hegemonic masculinity in the narratives of six purposively selected children authors, namely: Chinelo Ifezulike, Ekpa Anthonia, Essien Ako, Ifeanyi Ifoegbuna, Ikechukwu Ebonogwu and Richard Osifo. It aims to investigate how the narratives expresses different assumptions and notions of hegemonic masculinity, and how they help children readers to consciously and unconsciously develop a dangerously repressive sense of being desirably masculine. The study hopes to reveal aspects of masculinity construct that need being challenged, deconstructed and adopted towards making more effective interventions against male violence, female oppression and gender imbalance in the society. It thus seeks to contribute to literary scholarship by revealing the utilization of archetypal theoretical tools in negotiating the recognition of masculinity study in children’s literature as germane to addressing the issues of women’s oppression, subjugation and empowerment in Africa.