African Mythology, Femininity, and Maternity

This book explores feminine archetypes and mythological figures in African and European traditions with an underlying goal of describing the foundations of social status for women. The author provides a rich corpus of mythology and tales to illustrate aspects of female and mother-daughter relationships. Diop analyzes the symbolic aspects of maternity and femininity, describing the social meaning of the matrix, breasts, and breastfeeding. A retrospective of female characters in African literature brings an interesting approach to explore the figures of femininity and maternity in society. After an extensive analysis of African mythology and tales, the author proposes a way to integrate them in the clinical psychotherapy as a projective material. The analysis of clinical cases offers an example of how this material can be used in therapy with women from African descent.

Ismahan Soukeyna Diop, PhD, is a teacher-researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University. She has worked and written on the topic of women, femininity, and maternity. Her research and practice are focused on the integration of tales in psychotherapy.