Narrative strategy in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel „Americanah”: the manifestation of migrant identity

• Authors: Kozieł Patrycja
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this essay I will examine the characteristics of narrative strategy used by Nigerian writer and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her novel „Americanah” with special reference to Igbo language. The paper provides examples of several expressions in Igbo taken from the novel such as phrases, sentences, proverbs and other lexical items. Using the concept of the migrant identity for my analysis I argue that her narrative strategy including certain Igbo context as base for recognition could be interpreted as the method of manifestation of different self-identifications, global identities and a dynamic sense of belonging from a perspective of Nigerian writer living in the United States.

Keywords

EN

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Anglophone Nigerian literature; Igbo; narrative strategy; migrant identity

• Publisher: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: Studies in African Languages and Cultures
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 49
• Pages: 97-114

Dates

published

2015-12-10

Contributors

author

Kozieł Patrycja

• University of Warsaw

References

• Ada Uzoamaka Azodo, 2008, Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Creative Writing and Literary Activism, Women’s Caucus of the African Literature Association, Northwest: Indiana University.
• Adichie, C.N., 2013, Americanah, London: Fourth Estate.
• Adichie, C.N., 2008, „African “Authenticity” and the Biafran Experience”, Transition, 99.
• Anyonkwu, C., 2011, “Igbo Rhetoric and the New Nigerian Novel: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus”, The African Symposium, vol. 11, no. 1, June, 80-90.
• Bhabha, H., 1994, The location of culture, London: Routledge.
• Gupta, A., Ferguson, J., 1992, “Beyond “culture”: Space, identity, and the politics of difference”, Cultural Anthropology, 7(1), 6–24.
• Habila, H., 2011, The Granta Book of the African Short Story, London: Granta.
• Igboanusi, H., 2002, Igbo English in the Nigerian novel, Ibadan: Enicrownfit Publishers.
• Igboanusi, H., 2006, „Style and Meaning in Igbo English Novels”, The Reading Matrix, vol. 6, no. 1, 18-23.
• La Barbera, M. C. (ed.), 2007, Identity and Migration in Europe: Multidisciplinary Perspective, London: Springer.
• Lee, F.R., 2014, „New Wave of African Writers With an Internationalist Bent”, The New York Times, June 30.
• Olaniyan, T., Quayson A., (eds.), 2007, African Literature. An Anthology of Criticism and Theory, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
• Onukaogu, A. A., Ezechi, O., 2010, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The aesthetics of commitment and narrative, Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited.
• Owolabi, D., Owoeye, O.K, 2013, „Globalization and Nigeria's Socio-Political Landscape in the Novels of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie”, Research Journal of English Language and Literature, vol.1, issue 1, 27-34.
• Souvage, J., 1965, An Introduction to the Study of the Novel, with Special Reference to the English Novel, Ghent: E. Story-Scientia.
• Szupejko, M., 2012, “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – tożsamość i świat społeczny powieści”, in: R. Diaz-Szmidt, M. Szupejko (eds.) Kalejdoskop afrykański. Problematyka tożsamosci w literaturach Afryki przełomu XX i XXI wieku, Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza ASPRA-JR, 141-159.
• Tjupa, V., 2014, "Narrative Strategies", in: P. Hühn et al. (eds.) The living handbook of narratology, Hamburg: Hamburg University. http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/narrative-strategies [view date: 15 Oct 2015].
• Tunca, D., 2005, Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/cnainterview.html [view date: 17 Oct 2015].
• Zimmermann, K.F., 2007, “Migrant Ethnic Identity: Concept and Policy Implications”, Discussion Paper IZA, no. 3056.