Affectations, Conformation and Defiance in Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Year 2021, Issue: 24, 127 - 149, 20.10.2021

Abdullah Nejat Töngür

https://doi.org/10.30767/diledeara.899574

Abstract

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s third novel Americanah portrays a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who goes to the USA for university education, stays on in the country for 13 years and returns to Nigeria despite the evident success and popularity of her blog in which she writes her observations about Afro-Americans and African immigrants and students in America, her research fellowship at Princeton University, her relationships, her American citizenship and her financial gains. With alternate perspectives of Ifemelu, the protagonist, and her love, Obinze, who lives in the UK as an illegal immigrant for three years, Adichie explores the issue of being a foreigner in another country grappling with financial, social and psychological problems. The aim of this study is to show that the characters with their affectations and aspirations face a dilemma of conformation to or defiance of the cultural and social norms in another country with a hermeneutic approach. This paper also analyses Ifemelu’s growing awareness of race, gender and the stereotypes and biases about beauty and how she negotiated her affectations and fallacies with the conclusion that Ifemelu became an Americanah herself slightly with her manners and outlook although she resisted dominant culture for a long time.

Keywords

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah, affectations, conformation, defiance

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’nin Americanah Adlı Romanında Özentiler, Uyum Ve Karşı Koyma

Abstract

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’nin üçüncü romanı olan Americanah, Amerika Birleşik Devletlerine üniversite eğitimi için giden, orada 13 yıl kalan, Afro-Amerikalılara ve Amerikada’ki Afrikalı göçmen ve öğrencilere dair gözlemlerini yazdığı bloğunun başarısına, Princeton Üniversitesindeki görevine, ilişkilerine, Amerikan vatandaşlığına ve mali kazanımlarına rağmen Nijerya’ya dönen genç bir Nijeryalı kadın portresi çizer. Adichie, romandaki başkarakter Ifemelu’nun ve üç yıl Birleşik Krallık’ta kaçak göçmen olarak yaşayan sevgilisi Obinze’nin farklı bölümlerdeki bakış açıları ve anlatımları yoluyla başka ülkelerde mali, sosyal ve psikolojik sorunlarla mücadele eden yabancılar konusunu araştırmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı hermenötik bir yaklaşımla özentileri ve özlemleriyle karakterlerin bir başka ülkenin kültürel ve sosyal normlarına uyma ya da reddetme ikilemi ile karşı karşıya geldiklerini göstermektir. Bu çalışma, aynı zamanda, Ifemelu’nun ırka, cinsiyete ve güzellikle ilgili basmakalıplara ve önyargılara dair artan farkındalığını analiz etmekte ve Ifemelu özentilerinin ve yanlış düşüncelerinin üstesinden nasıl geldiğine ve egemen kültüre uzun süre karşı çıkmasına rağmen davranışları ve bakış açısı ile kendisinin de az da olsa Amerikalı olduğu sonucuna varmaktadır.

Keywords

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah, Özentiler, Uyum, Karşı Koyma

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