Imagining Step-motherhood in Deus Lubacha’s If She Were Alive
Abstract
This article examines the concept of step-motherhood in Deus Lubacha’s If She Were Alive. It specifically examines the effect of step-motherhood’s negative characteristics on stepmother-stepdaughter and step-sibling relationships. Using the psychoanalytic approach (specifically Juliet Mitchell’s psycho-feminism), the article accentuates the various ways in which step-motherhood impinges upon step-mother-stepdaughter and stepsibling rivalry and relationships. The article argues that, at the core of the disruptive stepmother-stepdaughter and stepsibling relationships in the context of step-mothering is the incompleteness of the institution of step-motherhood, primarily because, unlike biological motherhood, step-motherhood displays fewer positive traits in the process of family socialisation and development. In this regard, psychoanalytic theorists contend that the characters in a literary work are projections of the author’s psyche. This psyche, however, is perceived differently in life and literature. Notably, a violation emerges in the representation of step-motherhood, as the novel under review further illustrates. The breach in this article may include disruptions to the family, aggressive behaviours, favouritism, hatred, and anger. All of these are the results of the actions and characters of step-motherhood within and outside the familial settings.
Keywords:
Step-motherhood, Stepmother-stepdaughter and Stepsibling Relationships, Step-family, violation, Bildungsroman, madness, Psycho-feminism
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Creative Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
