Nigerian female characters
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Oum-El-Bouaghi
Abstract
Due the overwhelming rise of cosmopolitanism as a phenomenon, the African
literature, like other literatures, is no longer a planet that spins around its own axis.
Consequently, the African literary works that are written by some prolific female writers are
widely read and acknowledged. The eagerness of the contemporary female writers to address
the issue of gender equality and convey their experiences as Africans paves the way for the
feminist ideology to be introduced to African societies. Thus, this research sheds light on the
gender issues related to African immigrant women in Americanah(2013), written by the
contemporary feminist novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In other words, it investigates
the influence of the host country, America, on the way these women perceive themselves.
Additionally, this work highlights the hurdles Ifemelu, the protagonist, manages to overcome
in the USA where she fosters her Activism as a true feminist that decides to return to Lagos,
her native soil, to defend her own cause. To do so, this study adopts a feminist reading
through the lens of the contemporary fourth wave along with some perceptions of Kimberlé
Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality to draw attention to the jeopardy of the overlapped
factors of discrimination in the USA. This research Further delves into the journey of self-
rediscovery of Ifemelu as a returnee to Nigeria. Throughout the incidents she encounters in
Lagos we aim at drawing a link with the incidents Adichie herself experienced using her
famous essay "We Should All Be feminists" (2012). Finally, this work comes to conclude that
the core essence of feminism as an ideology, despite its divergent definitions and struggles, is
to accomplish women's upliftment. Therefore, Adichie persuades her society to unlearn its
gender-based misconceptions through her fictitious heroine that fulfills her criteria of a true
feminist.
Description
Keywords
Fourth wave, Intersectionality