Parenting, Cultural Values and Emotional Development in Damilare Kuku’s Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow

Parenting styles in Africa have evolved, with parents gradually diverting from authoritarian to modern and emotionally responsive methods. Literary works in context serves as lens towards examining the ever-evolving changes, reflecting real-world shifts in parenting and their psychological effects as depicted in literary fiction. Existing studies have investigated the evolution of parenting styles in African societies, often focusing on external factors such as urbanisation and globalisation, neglecting internal factors like the need to break free from generational trauma. This study addresses the gaps by analysing Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow to examine how deviations from traditional parenting impact emotional development. The study employs a qualitative method, using close reading techniques and examination of dialogues, narrations, and characterization to investigate the text’s portrayal of parenting and its psychological effects on individuals. Attachment Theory is applied to critique how these parenting styles lead to contrasting or similar emotional outcomes, resulting in either insecure or secure attachment patterns, each with potential positive or negative implications. The findings reveal that traditional parenting is in the form of authoritarian parenting, and it results in insecure attachment, while modern styles, which are in the form of authoritative and permissive parenting, lead to secure and a bit of insecure attachment. Findings reveal that a hybrid parenting method integrating cultural discipline with emotional responsiveness is a far more balanced style. This research contributes to literary scholarship by demonstrating how African women writers use family narratives as sophisticated vehicles for exploring cultural transformation, generational trauma, and the evolving articulation of female identity in postcolonial contexts.

Keywords: Attachment Theory Female Writers African Parenting Modern

Authors

• Ogbuonye Chidinma Deborah
  Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State
  ogbuonye0712@pg.babcock.edu.ng
  08115283100
• Adam, Ezinwanyi E.
  Department of Language and Literary Studies
  Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State.
  adame@babcock.edu.ng
  08063533265