THE ULTIMATE OTHER: ADAH OBI IN BUCHI EMECHETA’S SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

Year 2015, Issue: 25, 35 - 45, 15.04.2015

Ömer Öğünç

Abstract

As one of the important novelists in the postcolonial era, Buchi Emecheta may be
thought to be a pioneering figure in English literature in terms of her representation of
colonial issues in Nigeria and Britain. Although she has not received much critical attention
as she deserved, Emecheta narrates her own experiences in Nigeria, a former British colony
after the independence, and in Britain as an immigrant. Emecheta represents the
problematic relationships in the native African community and the British society in her
novel Second Class Citizen. The novel is quite significant in terms of the illustration of the
protagonist Adah Obi’s attempt to adopt social values imposed on the native community in
line with the colonial discourse although it takes place in the postcolonial era. This article
argues that the female protagonist Adah Obi suffers from the patriarchal and colonial
discourses dominant in the contemporary Nigerian and British societies and Adah is
portrayed as the ultimate other due to her disadvantageous position as a black, a woman and
an immigrant.

Keywords

Buchi Emecheta, Second Class Citizen, Nigeria, Britain, postcolonial, mimicry, the other

АБСОЛЮТНО ЧУЖОЙ: АДАХ ОБИ В РОМАНЕ БУЧИ ЭМЕЧЕТЫ SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

Abstract

В романах известного английского писателя Бучи Эмечета рассмотрены вопросы
Нигерийской и Английской колонизации и постколонизаторского периода. Несмотря
эа недостаточную критику, Эмечета описывает суть беженства В Англии и
Английской колонизаторской политики в Нигерии. В романе Second Class Citizen
рассказывается о сложных отношениях между местным африканским народом и
англичанами. Важность романа заключается в том, что его главный герой Адах Оби,
наряду с красноречием о колонизаторстве, рассказывает местному народу об
общественных ценностях, прилагает усилия для того, чтобы народ его освоил и
применял в постколонизаторском периоде. В статье придерживается мысл того, что
Адах Оби, как женщина героиня, угнетённая сиьным патриархалным строем в
Нигерии и колонизаторской политикой Англии, как чёрная, женшина и беженка
является обсолютно чужой. 

Keywords

Бучи Эмечета, Second Class Citizen, Нигерия, Англия, постколониализм, подражать, чужой

MUTLAK ÖTEKI: BUCHI EMECHETA’NIN SECOND CLASS CITIZEN ROMANINDA ADAH OBI

Abstract

Sömürgecilik sonrası dönemin önemli romancılarından Buchi Emecheta Nijerya ve İngiltere’deki sömürgecilik konularını sunumu bakımından İngiliz edebiyatının önde gelen isimlerinden biri olarak görülebilir. Yeterli eleştirel ilgiyi görmese de Emecheta eski bir İngiliz sömürgesi olan Nijerya’daki ve İngiltere’deki göçmen deneyimini anlatır. Yerli Afrikalı  toplum  ile  İngiliz  toplumu  arasında  sorunlu  ilişkiler  Second  Class  Citizen romanında ele alınmaktadır. Roman, başkahraman Adah Obi’nin yerli halka sömürgecilik söylemleriyle birlikte dayatılan toplumsal değerleri benimseme çabasını sömürgecilik sonrası dönemin bakış açısıyla yansıtması bakımından son derece önemlidir. Bu makale kadın başkahraman Adah Obi’nin günümüzde Nijerya’da ve İngiltere’de görülen güçlü ataerkil ve sömürgeci söylemler altında ezildiğini ve Adah’nın bir siyahi, bir kadın ve bir göçmen olarak mutlak öteki şeklinde nitelenebileceğini savunmaktadır.

Keywords

Buchi Emecheta, Second Class Citizen, Nijerya, İngiltere, sömürgecilik sonrası, taklit etme, öteki

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