LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 19:12 December 2019
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Double-Consciousness:
An Analytical Study of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah

Arif Rashid Shah, Ph.D. Research Scholar

Aericanah
Courtesy: https://www.amazon.com/Americanah

Abstract

Adichie uses Americanah as a vehicle for cultural commentary that examines the impact that Westernization has on people from African countries. As with her previous two works, Adichie uses Americanah as a space to analyze the power imbalances between the Western hegemony and the “other.” Adichie’s commentary in Americana differs from that of her previous two works in that she closely examines the double-consciousness that characterizes the lives of blacks in America. This double-consciousness saturates the identities of those who are citizens of a nation that refuses to acknowledge their worthiness. Blacks in America find themselves caught between a desire for acceptance into the mainstream culture and the solidarity that they must maintain as a collective in order to counter the very culture into which they seek acceptance.

Keywords: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah, Double-Consciousness, Westernization, African-Americans, Non-black Americans, Nigerians, whites.

Introduction

In Americanah, Adichie analyzes race relations from all perspectives - African-Americans, Non-black Americans, Nigerians, whites, among others. Despite the different stories Adichie gives us, they all are contingent on a dominant/subordinate binary opposition that ultimately always gives power to the dominating force.

In uncovering the trace in Americanah, we have to consider the framework of tension that Adichie has created between whiteness and blackness. Whiteness, as researcher use it here, refers to the systemic racism that is embedded in American culture that which privileges those of white European descent over any others. Additionally, researcher considers whiteness to be any byproduct of this embedded systemic racism. For example, non-whites who oppress other non-whites because of a paradoxical loyalty to whiteness would be considered a byproduct of whiteness. The other side of the tension that Adichie constructs in Americanah is that of blackness. For the purposes of researcher argument, researcher use blackness when referring to the collective consciousness of blacks in America who experience marginalization and oppression because of the societal hierarchy that positions whiteness as superior to blackness. In Americanah, the subordinate position that characterizes blackness is evident in the self-perception of blacks. Self-perception, as is demonstrated in several scenes in Americanah, affects every aspect of one’s life.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Arif Rashid Shah
Ph.D. (Research Scholar)
Department of English
Jiwaji University
Gwalior (M.P.)
shaharif250@gmail.com
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