African women in search of global identity: An exploration of feminism and Afropolitanism in Chimamanda Adichie’s works
PDF

Keywords

Afropolitanism
feminism
diaspora

How to Cite

Eke, G. O., & Njoku, A. (2020). African women in search of global identity: An exploration of feminism and Afropolitanism in Chimamanda Adichie’s works. Journal of Gender and Power, 13(1), 151–169. https://doi.org/10.2478/jgp-2020-0009

Abstract

Many variants of feminism have been branded over time and that has given feminism a multiple identity. One of the new revelations of feminism in recent times is “Afropolitan Feminism”, a branch of African feminism conceived in this research to deal with the story of African women in the homeland and the Diaspora trying to assume the status of world citizens (Metropolites) to de-emphasize their origins. What is the nature of Afropolitan Feminism? What is the link between Feminism and Afropolitanism? To what extent do Adichie’s characters show the attributes of Afropolitans? This paper illuminates the concepts of feminism and Afropolitanism and the latter’s traits in Adichie’s characters in Americanah and The Thing Around Your Neck. It deals with Diaspora issues and the way African women in literary fictions try to stem the effects of global maladies like African patriarchy, Western racism and sexism. The paper further discusses social awareness and feminist tendencies displayed by the characters. It ends by noting that feminism which assumes the dimension of Afropolitanism in Adichie’s works is a becoming trend rather than a fixed norm.

https://doi.org/10.2478/jgp-2020-0009
PDF

References

ABEBE, A. (2015) Afropolitanism: Global citizenship with African routes. Oxford University Politics Blog. [Online] Available from: https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/afropolitanism-global-citizenship-with-african-routes/. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

ADICHIE, C. (2009) The thing around your neck. London: Fourth Estate.

ADICHIE, C. (2013) Americanah. London: Fourth Estate.

ADICHIE, C. N. (2018) The Afro Reader. [Online] Available from: http://www.theafroreader.com/lifestyle/the-powerful-words-of-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-by-candice-carty-williams/. [Accessed: 5 November 2019]. The article originally appeared in i-D’s The Earthwise Issue, no. 353, Fall 2018.

ARNDT, S. (2002) Perspectives on African Feminism: Defining and Classifying African Feminist Literatures. Empowering Women for Gender Equity. No. 54. Pp. 31–44.

AZODO, A. (2015) Di-Feminism: An Indigenous Feminist Theory with Broad Claims for Ndi-Igbo. ISA Newsletter. Vol. 2. No. 3. Fall. Pp. 4–20.

BARNARD, M. (2002) Fashion as communication. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.

DE BEAUVOIR, S. The second sex. [Online] Available from: https://www.geneology.rootsweb.ancestrey.com/gilliamgibbs/writings.pmf.html. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

DO ESPIRITO SANTO, L. (2016) If You Don’t Like Their Story, Write Your Own: Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah and the New Postcolonial Literature. Thesis (Bachelor’s) University of Iceland. [Online] Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/24328. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

EZE, C. (2014) Rethinking African culture and identity: The Afropolitan model. Journal of African Cultural Studies. 26 (13). Pp. 234–247.

FLAX, J. (2016) Theory, feminism, and feminist theory. [Online] Available from: http://faculty.ycp.edu/~dweiss/phl380_feminist_thought/what%20is%20feminist%20theory.pdf. [Accessed: 5 March 2020].

FRANZ, M. (2015) Encountering the Gendered Transnational Identity: A Study of The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts. IJELLH Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. Vol. 111. Issue 11. Pp. 71–78.

GREGORY, C. (2007) The Blackwell guide to literary theory. Series editor: Jonathan Wordsworth. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.

KAWAMURA, Y. (2004) Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

KELLAWAY, K. (2013) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: ‘My new novel is about love, race... and hair’ The Guardian international edition, 7th April. [Online] Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2013/apr/07/chimamanda-ngoziadichie-americanah-interview. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

MBEMBE, A. (2007) Afropolitanism. In: Njami, S. & Durán, L. (eds.) Africa Remix: Contemporary art of a continent. Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery.

NDIORO, N. (2014) The role of women as Afropolitanists: A new brand of feminism for today’s Africa? [Online] Available from: http://www.osiwa.org/wp-content/themes/osiwa-theme/pdf/afropolitanism-complete.pdf. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

Postmodern Feminism in 3 pages. [Online] Available from: https://freepages.rootswebs.com/..giliamgibbs/geneology/writings/pmf.html. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

SAFRAN, W. (1991) Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies. University of Toronto Press. Vol. 1. Number 1. Pp. 83–99.

SALAMI, M. (2013) Can Africans have multiple subcultures? A response to exorcising afropolitanism. Afropolitan. [Online] Available from: https://www.msafropolitan.com/2013/04/can-africans-have-multiple-subcultures-a-response-to-exorcising-afropolitanism.html. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

SELASI, T. (2005) Bye-Bye Babar. The Lip. [Online] Available from: http://thelip.robertsharp.co.uk/?p=76. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

SKINNER, R. T. (2017) Why Afropolitanism Matters. Africa Today. Vol. 64. No. 2.

SVENDSEN, L. (2009) Fashion: A Philosophy. London: Reaktion Books.

TED, H. (1995) New world encyclopedia. In: The Oxford companion to philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie website. [Online] Available from: http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/cnasecond.html. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

THOMAS, D. (2003) Fashion Matters: “La Sape” and Vestimentary Codes in Transnational Contexts and Urban Diasporas. MLn. 118 (4). Pp. 947–973.

TONG, R. (1989) Feminist Thought A More Comprehensive Introduction. 1st Ed. Boulder: Westview Press.

TWIGG, J. (2009) Clothing Identity and the Embodiment of Age. In: Powell, J. & Gilbert, T. (eds.) Aging and identity: A postmodern dialogue. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

WAWRZINEK, J. & MAKOKHA, J. K. S. (eds.) (2011) Negotiating Afropolitanism: Essays on borders and spaces in contemporary African literature and folklore. English academy review: Southern African Journal of English Studies. [Online] 28 (2). Pp. 79–81.

What is «afropolitan» [Online] Available from: https://findwords.info/term/afropolitan. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

Why Afropolitanism Matters [Online] Available from: https://www.academia.edu/36761632/why_afropolitanism_matters. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

Why I’m Not an Afropolitan [Online] Available from: https://www.africasacountry.com/2014/why-im-not-an-afropolitan/. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

WILSON, E. (1992) Fashion and the postmodern body. In: Ash, J. & Wilson, E. (eds.) Chic thrills: A fashion reader. Berkeley: University of California Press.

WILSON, J. (1997) Representations of female experience in the novels of post-colonial west African writers: Flora nwapa, buchiemecheta and mariamaba. Unpublished Masters Thesis. University of Wollongong. [Online] Available from: http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/2198. [Accessed: 5 November 2019].

WOOLF, V. (1929) A Room of one’s own. London: Hogarth Press.