Representations of home, dislocation, and resilience in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah.

Abstract

This dissertation aims to explore the literary representations of ‘home’, dislocation and resilience in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013). Through a close-text analysis of the migrant trajectory from dislocation (within and beyond the boundaries of the homeland) to the possibility of a permanent return home, I intend to investigate what opportunities there are for migrants to overcome the challenges of uprootedness and reestablish a meaningful sense of ‘home’ and belonging in new spaces. The novel depicts two central protagonists who are estranged from their home country as a consequence of postindependent disenchantment, and whose ways of understanding ‘home’ are further challenged upon their return to a ‘strange’ and unfamiliar Nigeria. I have, therefore, found it necessary to investigate alternative perspectives of ‘home’ that offer a broader and more nuanced understanding of what it means to belong in an increasingly globalised and fluid world. By applying select postcolonial and psychological theoretical concepts and perspectives, this dissertation seeks to explore pathways of managing and overcoming the trauma of emotional and physical dislocation. While acknowledging the severe consequences of border crossing on the migrant’s psyche, I also consider possible coping strategies that initiate a process of building resilience and overcoming adversities. Drawing on recent psychological approaches, I aim to provide a more balanced interpretation of the novel’s depiction of the migrant experience, suggesting that such experiences have the potential to deepen personal growth and world knowledge.