Intro; Series Editors' Foreword; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Contents; 1 Introduction; 2 Feminine Figures in African Mythology; 2.1 Matriarchy in the African Mythology; 2.1.1 Myths of the Genesis; 2.1.2 Phallus and Femininity; 2.1.3 The Paradox of Eve the Seductive Woman to Mary the Saint; 2.1.4 The Myth of Lilith; 2.2 The Devouring Mother/Sorcerer/Goddess; 2.2.1 The Denial of Symbolic Permutation; 2.2.2 The Exchange Process Guarantor of Peace; 2.2.3 Caraweelo a Somali Legend of an All Powerful Tyrannic Mother; 2.2.4 Bouti the Ogress of the Past; 2.2.5 Mami Wata; 2.2.6 Abraha Pokou

2.3 The Old Woman2.3.1 The Good Old Woman; 2.3.2 The Evil Old Woman; 2.4 The Good Mother; 2.5 Summary; References; 3 Symbolic References to the Feminine Body; 3.1 The Matrix and the Placenta; 3.1.1 The Matrix; 3.1.2 The Placenta; 3.2 The Breastmilk; 3.3 The Treatments Given to the Feminine Body; 3.3.1 The Mothering Techniques; 3.3.2 The Rites of Passage; 3.4 The Calabash; 3.5 Summary; References; 4 Correspondences with Tales from Europe and Middle East; 4.1 Pregnancy and Sleep in European and Middle Eastern Tales; 4.2 Transgression of the Laws of Nature: Giving Life to a Child Without a Woman

4.2.1 A Handmade Child4.2.2 A Devious Child as a Punishment for Audacious Parents; 4.2.3 The Quest for Redemption and the Intervention of Mother Nature; 4.3 Punishments for Women's Greed; 4.3.1 The Temptation; 4.3.2 The Envy Toward Others' Goods; 4.3.3 The Old Lady/Ogress Willing to Keep a Girl as Her Daughter; 4.3.4 The Representation of Death in Fairytales; 4.4 Women's Jealousy in Tales; 4.4.1 The Jealousy of Older Women Toward Young Women; 4.4.2 Polygamy and Rivalry; 4.5 Summary; References; 5 Impact on Women's Social Status; 5.1 The Mother Who Has Worked; 5.2 Marriage and Divorce

5.2.1 Polygamy5.2.2 The Divorce; 5.3 Women Status in Religious and Civil Laws; 5.3.1 Women's Rights in Civil Law; 5.3.2 Women's Rights in Islamic Law; 5.3.3 Women's Rights in Judaism and Christianity; References; 6 Women in the Contemporary African Literature; 6.1 The Waves of African Feminism; 6.1.1 Marriage; 6.1.2 Social Representation of Women; 6.1.3 Money and Power; 6.2 What Vision of Women Do African Male Writers Show?; 6.3 Mother-Daughter Relationship in the Feminine African Literature; 6.3.1 M'ma Asana and Hawa; 6.3.2 Bertha and Megrita; 6.3.3 Ramatoulaye and Daba; References

7 Clinical Representation of Femininity and Maternity in the Mother-Daughter Relationship: Analysis of Clinical Cases7.1 The Story of Fatima; 7.1.1 Early Childhood and Marriage; 7.1.2 Being a Wife and a Woman; 7.1.3 Confronting Her Mother; 7.2 The Story of Alia; 7.2.1 Childhood and Adolescence; 7.2.2 Sexuality and Femininity as an Exit Option; 7.2.3 Being a Woman for Herself; 7.3 Interpreting Clinical Cases at the Light of African Mythology and Fairytales; 7.3.1 Transference and Countertransference Mechanisms; 7.3.2 Myths, Tales and Therapy; Reference; 8 Conclusion; References; Index