African dreamers’ redefinition of Home and the shame of returnin imbolu Mbue’s Behold the dreamers
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Date
2022-12-30
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Larbi Ben Mhidi University Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
This article investigates questions related to African immigrants’ displacement, home and diaspora and their impact on identity construction and distortion of Nigerian immigrants though the examination of Imbolo Mbue’s novel Behold the Dreamers (2016). In her novel, Mbue investigated the destructive effects of immigration on Wanderers across borders and the impact this movement has on their perception and that of natives of home and identity which are going through a perpetual redefinition. African authors took on their shoulders the responsibility of tackling such vague and slippery topics such as identity, defining home and the shame of return to one’s origins. Mbue’s novel can be considered as a mirror of the African society in the general and the Nigerian one in particular which is chosen in this article to explore the cultural outcomes of immigration on immigrants and the hurdles they have to surmount to quench their thirst for the American Dream. They all looked beyond the borders of Africa toward the over there and the elsewhere in a quest for a cultural identity for black people. This paper examines the Double Consciousness Nigerian immigrants suffer from which transform them into scattered souls between two Homes. In order to thoroughly analyze the novel, New Historicism literary approach is used in order to provide an eclectic and holistic perspective of immigration, search for home and identity. Post-colonial theory was also used in order to highlight alterity and subordination of the African subject in his quest for identification with the white men’s cultural values. At the end of this paper, we realize the renunciations African Dreamers have to deal with in their pursuit of happiness and it also shows that home is ubiquitous and nowhere at the same time.
Cet article examine les questions liées au déplacement, à domicileet à la diaspora des immigrants africains et leur impact sur la construction et la distorsion de l'identité des immigrants nigérians à travers l'examen du roman d'Imbolo Mbue Behold the Dreamers(2016). Dans son roman, Mbue a enquêté sur les effets destructeurs de l'immigration sur les voyageurà travers les frontières. Le roman de Mbue est choisi dans cet article pour explorer les conséquences culturelles de l'immigration sur les immigrants et les obstacles qu'ils doivent surmonter pour étancher leur soifde rêve américain. L'approche littéraire du Nouvel Historicisme est utilisé afin de fournir une perspective éclectique et holistique de l'immigration, de la recherche d'un domicileet d'une identité. La théorie postcoloniale a également été utilisée pour mettre en évidence l'altérité et la subordination du sujet africain dans sa quête d'identification aux valeurs culturelles des hommes blancs. À la fin de cet article, nous réalisons les renoncements auxquels les Rêveurs Africains doivent faire face dans leur quête du bonheur et cela montre également que ledomicileest omniprésente et nulle part en même temps.
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Keywords
Immigration, Diaspora, American dream, shame of return