Sociologically Imagining Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck" and "Americanah"
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Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Senior Theses and Projects Student Scholarship Spring 2016 Of Maps, Margins and Storylines: Sociologically Imagining Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck" and "Americanah" Omolara F. Abiona Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses Part of the African Studies Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Abiona, Omolara F., "Of Maps, Margins and Storylines: Sociologically Imagining Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck" and "Americanah"". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2016. Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/581 OF MAPS, MARGINS, AND STORYLINES 1 Of Maps, Margins, and Storylines: SOCIOLOGICALLY IMAGINING CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK AND AMERICANAH*1 Omolara Abiona Trinity College Presented to the Departments of Sociology and International Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree with honors of Bachelor of Arts *Omolara Abiona, [email protected], I would like to acknowledge my thesis advisors, Professor Tanetta Andersson (Sociology) and Professor Seth Markle (International Studies). I am very grateful to for both their guidance and support of my intellectual risks throughout the thesis fruition process. I would also like to thank Professor Donna-Dale Marcano, Professor Stephen Valocchi, Professor Trisha Tiamzon and Professor Isaac Kamola for their helpful conversations during the process. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who tirelessly encouraged me throughout the stressful process and respected my space during my writing and research. OF MAPS, MARGINS, AND STORYLINES 2 ABSTRACT This undergraduate senior thesis investigates how Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie conveys the sociological imagination through the fictional characters and plots in Americanah and The Thing Around Your Neck. By conducting an ethnographic content analysis of these books, I investigate the interplay between history and biography, as presented in C. Wright Mills' The Sociological Imagination. The two principal aims of the research are: 1) to explore the historical, structural implications of the current Nigerian diaspora and 2) to illuminate the biographies of contemporary Nigerian women through an intersectional feminist analysis. The theoretical framework is a hybrid of cultural sociology (Griswold) and diaspora studies (Butler). The findings are split into two parts: 1) history, which looks at the structural and diaspora elements of the homeland, hostland, and homeland and 2) biography, which analyzes the intersectionality in the changing positionalities of a diasporic Nigerian female protagonist. Overall, the purpose of this project is 1) to present narrative literature, especially African literature, as sociological knowledge; 2) to understand the contemporary Nigerian diaspora; and 3) to recognize the ability of storytelling to particularize and liberate the marginalized. Key words: sociological imagination; African literature; diaspora; intersectionality OF MAPS, MARGINS, AND STORYLINES 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................................2 Introduction......................................................................................................................4 Literature Review.............................................................................................................9 Sociology of Culture and the Origins of Sociology of Literature.......................................9 Sociology of African Literature.........................................................................................13 African Feminism Through Literature...............................................................................17 Existing Scholarship on Adichie's Literature....................................................................19 Review of Diasporic Studies and Nigeria..........................................................................24 Theoretical Perspectives..................................................................................................28 Research Methods............................................................................................................34 Research Design................................................................................................................34 Sampling and Data Collection...........................................................................................36 Methodological Challenges...............................................................................................37 Findings............................................................................................................................39 Part I: History...................................................................................................................40 Homeland.........................................................................................................................40 Host-land..........................................................................................................................55 Homeland Upon Return...................................................................................................58 Part II. Biography............................................................................................................60 Relationships....................................................................................................................60 Rituals..............................................................................................................................66 Restrictions.......................................................................................................................68 Discussion........................................................................................................................71 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................73 References.......................................................................................................................76 OF MAPS, MARGINS, AND STORYLINES 4 “Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity." -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story (2007) "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both." -C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination (1959) African writers have historically used fiction literature as an activist, nation- building tool to debunk hegemonic, Eurocentric narratives about Africa and African people. Today, a significant African issue is the homogenization of African countries, peoples, and stories. Globalization on the African continent has led to the emergence of a new generation in the African diaspora.2 However, the invisibility of this phase of the African diaspora leads to respective invisibility of the mobile agents, especially women. Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's literature takes a fresh approach to the traditional "African novel" framework and explores modern-day Nigerian experiences from a diasporic, intersectional feminist standpoint. 2 "Diaspora" refers to the movement of a specific ethnic or national group of people across geographical space and time (Safran 1991). OF MAPS, MARGINS, AND STORYLINES 5 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born on September 15, 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria.3 She grew up in Nsukka in a home that was ironically the former home of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe.4 Both of Adichie's parents were professors at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her father was Nigeria's first professor of statistics, later becoming Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, and her mother was the first female registrar at the University. After completing her secondary education at the University's school, Adichie studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. However, she did not feel fulfilled in this career path and decided to pursue her passion. Thus, she left after a year and a half to study communications at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She finished her bachelor's degree in communications and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University in 2001, graduating summa cum laude. It was during her senior year of her undergraduate studies that she began to write her first novel (University of Liège 2015). Adichie has written five books: Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), Americanah (2013), and We Should All Be Feminists (2014). Purple Hibiscus is narrated by Kambili Achike, a 15-year-old girl who lives in Enugu in postcolonial Nigeria. Her father is a wealthy, revered Catholic authoritarian and political activist. However, he abuses his wife and children and demonizes his Igbo culture, denouncing his own elderly father. Still, Kambili unquestioningly admires her father and craves his approval. It is not until Kambili stays with her Aunt Ifeoma, an outspoken yet impoverished professor in Nsukka, that her 3