This paper uses feminist stylistics to analyze The Girl With The Louding Voice (2020) by Abi Dare and Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow (2024) by Damilare Kuku as an exploration of how linguistic innovation reimagines gender norms in the 21st-century African fiction. Based on qualitative analysis at the lexical, syntactic, and discourse levels, using the framework of Sara Mills (1995,2008), the study recognizes non-standard grammar and neologisms such as louding, bumbum-enlargement, as well as derogatory body policing lexis, transitivity patterns that objectify women, and first-person/multi-voiced narratives as forms of resisting patriarchal silencing and commodification. The findings demonstrate that language is a two-fold mechanism of revealing ideological domination of the female body and a voice allowing identity rebuilding and empowerment of the marginalized protagonists; Adunni and Temilade. The discussion highlights the validity of non-standard forms in feminist discourse and suggests the use of digital space to create the voices of such alternative forms and additional stylistic research of the narratives of contemporary African women.
Feminist stylistics, gender reimagination, non-standard language, body policing, contemporary African fiction.
