No Sweetness Here

work by Aidoo

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Last updated

June 17, 2026

Quick Summary

No Sweetness Here is a 1970 collection of short stories by Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo. The stories are written to be read aloud, incorporating oral storytelling elements. Aidoo uses this collection to explore the impact of Western influences on Ghanaian women and their roles within a communal society. She challenges the notion that Western education liberates African women, highlighting the exploitation faced by women who become sole providers for their families when men are absent due to war or unemployment. The work reflects Aidoo's broader literary concerns about the complex position of modern African women.1

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Ama Ata Aidoo
In No Sweetness Here (1970), a collection of short stories, Aidoo exercised the oral element of storytelling, writing tales that are meant to be read aloud. These stories and Anowa (1970), another problem play, are concerned with Western influences on the role of women and on…
Read More
In No Sweetness Here (1970), a collection of short stories, Aidoo exercised the oral element of storytelling, writing tales that are meant to be read aloud. These stories and Anowa (1970), another problem play, are concerned with Western influences on the role of women and on…
Read More