Displacement and Identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah

Abstract

This thesis analyses the themes of displacement and identity in Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Throughout the novel, Adichie examines serious issues encompassing race, identity, and displacement. She delineates the tough experiences that the Nigerian immigrants face in foreign lands of both America and England which situate them in a completely new environment to feel the bitterness of loss and non- assimilation. This paper attempts to decipher the impacts of culture shock, identity crisis, and racial discrimination on the main characters and to address their experience with displacement as newcomers. The present study is conducted through the implementation of two literary theories, Post-colonialism and Ecocriticism to aid in analyzing the protagonist’s struggle to cope with especially the new American society and how the environment affects her. This study finds out how the protagonist Ifemelu struggles to negotiate her identity as an immigrant in a foreign country and culture. This study also reveals how Ifemelu finally decides to go back to her home country, Nigeria, where she finds the meaning of peace and belonging.