Afropolitanism and the Making of New African Writers: A Postcolonial Study of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah

The paper examines Chimamanda Adichie’s novel, Americana, from the perspective of postcolonial theory in order to interrogate the inevitable shift in African literature. The early African writers paid much attention to the use of myths and legends in portraying the historicity, beauty and wholeness of African culture, while at the same time reacting against the stereotypical assumptions of the West about Africa. Their vision was centralized in rehabilitating and reestablishing the African st humanity and personality. Gradually, there was a shift of emphasis in the 21 century, which came about as a result of globalisation that resulted in transnational and cultural mobility across borders, which have extended the horizon of African literature. In the new century, Africans travel to Europe and America for personal ambition and quest for better life and in the process, the migrants interact with the Europeans or Americans, marry and speak their language in addition to their mother tongue, and work for or among them. Consequently, rather than treat such interaction as exploitative, the migrants review it as beneficial because it enables them to achieve their personal ambition, and even become citizens and this trajectory clearly reflects in literary works. The paper therefore attempts to identify the paradigm shift in African literature and how the cultural and transnational interactions have helped the new writers to condense universal knowledge, and address international themes in their narratives as well as bring the new writers to international recognition. In addition to this, the study attempts to highlight some possible differences between the new and the old writers, the kind of difference that is defined by the concept of Afropolitanism.

Keywords: Afropolitanism Afropolitan Avantgarde Colonialism Transnationalism Trans-Culture Migrant Paradigm-Shift

Author

• Murtala Lawal
  Department of English and Linguistics,
  Federal University, Dutse
  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
  Jigawa State, Nigeria
  murtalalawal60@gmail.com