• P.N.Pushpalatha
• Dr.K. Deepa

Abstract The Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (2003) and Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) portray female characters who enact practices traditionally coded as masculine, thereby reconfiguring conventional understandings of gender. Drawing on Connell’s theory of masculinities, this study argues that Adichie dismantles the notion that masculinity is a fixed identity intrinsically tied to the male body. In these texts, female masculinity is not merely the imitation of masculine traits; rather, it underscores the instability of the binary gender system. By examining the ways in which women inhabit the attributes traditionally coded as masculine such as authority, autonomy, aggression, rationality, or resistance, this framework exposes masculinity as a performative social practice rather than a natural attribute. This dynamic is exemplified through key characters: Aunty Ifeoma’s intellectual and economic independence in Purple Hibiscus, Kainene’s business acumen and organizational ability, and Olanna’s political awareness, emotional endurance and humanitarian effort in Half of a Yellow Sun. Ultimately, their performances of masculine-coded roles subvert traditional gender norms and expectations typically associated with femininity to reconfigure agency within global literature.

Gender binary, female masculinity, gender reconfiguration, masculine traits, performativity

"Female Masculinity: A Reconfiguration of Gender in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 10, page no.a835-a837, October-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2610085.pdf

"Female Masculinity: A Reconfiguration of Gender in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 10, page no. ppa835-a837, October-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2610085.pdf