To Bloom in Ame ica: Raising Black Awa eness in Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s Ame icanah (2013) and NoViole Bulawayo’s We Need New
Names (2013)
Ana So ia Roias Massa
Agos o 2021
Disse ação de Mes ado em Li e a u as e Cul u as Mode nas
Es udos Ingleses e No e-Ame icanos
Ana So ia Roias Massa: To Bloom in
Ame ica: Raising Black Awa eness in
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s
Ame icanah (2013) and NoViole
Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (2013)
Janei o 2021 | Ve são co igida e
melho ada após de esa pública
2
Disse ação ap esen ada pa a cump imen o dos equisi os necessá ios à ob enção do
g au de Mes e em Li e a u as e Cul u as Mode nas, especialização em Es udos Ingleses
e No e-Ame icanos, ealizada sob a o ien ação cien í ica da P o esso a
Dou o a Te esa Bo elho
Ve são co igida e melho ada após de esa pública
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like o hank my amily o allowing me o pu sui he academic jou ney
I ha e always wan ed and o suppo ing me and belie ing in my abili ies o accomplish
his achie emen .
To my iends, who we e always by my side when hings we e di icul and
made me ealize I could do i e en when I hough di e en ly.
Las bu no he leas , hank you o my supe iso Te esa Bo elho, o suppo ing
my ideas and belie ing hey we e wo h sha ing.
4
To Bloom in Ame ica: Raising Black Awa eness in Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s Ame icanah (2013) and NoViole Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (2013)
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Iden idade, diáspo a, globalização, cul u a, cosmopoli ismo
RESUMO: Es a disse ação isa analisa o neologismo A opoli anismo e o modo como
es e é desa iado po ob as de li e a u a a icana con empo ânea a a és da descons ução
do concei o de “A icanos do mundo”, popula izado po Taiye Selasi, e a a és da
e o mulação das suas ca ac e ís icas. Assim, os omances Ame icanah (2013) de
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie e We Need New Names (2013) de NoViole Bulawayo
o am as ob as escolhidas pa a es a análise, uma ez que são e a os iccionais de
mobilidade con empo ânea A icana que ap esen am di e en es pe spe i as des e
concei o. Ao analisa o pe cu so de ida das pe sonagens, I emelu e Da ling, es e es udo
p e ende ap esen a ou as in e p e ações do A opoli anismo que são mais adequadas
pa a desc e e os omances em ques ão. Es a análise i á en ão en a comp eende não
só como é que a iden idade das p o agonis as oi o mada ao aze em pa e da diáspo a
A icana, mas ambém como é que um choque cul u al in luenciou o seu p ocesso de
desen ol imen o.
KEYWORDS: Iden i y, diaspo a, globaliza ion, cul u e, cosmopoli anism
ABSTRACT: This disse a ion aims o analyze he neologism A opoli anism and how
i is challenged by con empo a y A ican no els, decons uc ing Taiye Selasi’s
popula ized concep o “A icans o he wo ld” and e o mula ing i s cha ac e is ics.
The e o e, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Ame icanah (2013) and NoViole Bulawayo’s
5
We Need New Names (2013) we e he no els chosen o his analysis, since bo h a e
ic ional po ai s o A ican con empo a y mobili y which p esen di e en
pe spec i es o his concep . Th ough an analysis o he cha ac e s’, I emelu and
Da ling, li e jou ney, his s udy will p esen o he in e p e a ions o A opoli anism ha
a e conside ed mo e sui able o desc ibe he no els in ques ion. This analysis will y o
unde s and no only how he p o agonis s’ iden i y was cons uc ed as being pa o he
A ican diaspo a bu also how a cul u al shock had an impac on hei p ocess o
ma u a ion.

6
INDEX
In oduc ion………………………………………………………………...…..………1
I. “A icans o he wo ld”: pe spec i es on A opoli an
consciousness………………………………………………………………..………7
1.1. In oduc ion……………………………………………………………………..7
1.2. Raising Black Awa eness: was Pan-A icanism he igh label?.......................10
1.2.1. His o icizing he Pan-A icanis spi i and i s
challenges………………………………………………………………10
1.2.2. Ga ey and Ga eyism: a mo emen o he masses………...…………19
1.3. The sel -a i ma ion o black people: he New Neg o and Nég i ude………….24
1.4. Essen ials o an A opoli an: de ining an “A ican o he wo ld”……………..30
1.5. A opoli anism in a cosmopoli an se ing……………………………………...42
1.6. A opoli anism and he Black Bildungs oman: he jou ney o li e in A ican and
A ican Ame ican
ic ion………….………………………………………………………………..47
1.7. Conclusion ……………………………………….……………………………53
II. Ame icanah: a coming-o -age s o y dissec ing he ques ion o ace in he
US…………………………………………………………………………………..57
2.1. In oduc ion...………………………………………………………………….57
2.2. Ame icanah: ch onicles o a o eign Black woman in he Wes ..…………….58
2.2.1. Lea ning o be Black……………………………………………………61
2.2.2. (Re)Lea ning o be A ican……………………………………………..73
2.2.3. Lea ning o be A opoli an……………………………………………..78
2.3. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..82
7
III. We Need New Names: a ques o su i al in a u opic
Ame ica………………………………………………………………………..…...86
3.1. In oduc ion…………………………………………………………………….86
3.2. We Need New Names as a no el o disloca ion, disillusionmen and p eca ious
mobili ies…………………………………………………………………….…87
3.2.1. “How Da ling le ”……………………………………………………..87
3.2.2. “How Da ling a i ed”………………………………………………..102
3.3. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….117
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………122
Bibliog aphy………………………………………………………………………….131
1
INTRODUCTION
In he end o he 20 h cen u y he dominan image o A ica in pos colonial
li e a u e was held by he “malady o A o-pessimism” (Gikandi 9) which eme ged
du ing he poli ical and economic un es o he 80s and 90s. This discou se sugges ed
ha he A ican con inen and A icans would o e e be condi ioned by economic
s agna ion and poli ical co up ion. Agains his end, a new gene a ion o A ican
academics ha e ied o il e hese nega i e and s e eo yped images o c ea e an
al e na i e iew o A ican iden i y o ma ion. A a ime when he A ican con inen
was changing due o independence p ocesses and he end o he Cold Wa an inc eased
mobili y o A icans was no iceable. In he b ink o a globalized e a, a ein en ed
concep o cosmopoli anism eme ged, coinciding wi h wha Balak ishnan desc ibes as
“ he new wa e o op imism gene a ed by media on A ica” (Balak ishnan 1).
Howe e , A ican schola s belie ed his new cosmopoli anism o be a
ep esen a ion o a Whi e hegemonic mobili y and hus el an u gen need o he
c ea ion o a concep ha could co espond o he pos colonial amewo k o A icans’
mobili y. Ini ially, he neologism A opoli anism eme ged du ing he ea ly 21s cen u y
o desc ibe a gene a ion o A icans who we e bo n ou side o A ica bu has now
e ol ed in o a new concep o A icanness. A e Taiye Selasi’s a icle “Bye Bye
Baba ” (2005), his new desc ip o has been adop ed o gi e A icans new ways o
unde s anding how o be in a wo ld whe e iden i y is “bo h oo ed in speci ic local
geog aphies bu also anscenden al o hem” (Gikandi 9). The e o e, o be A opoli an
is o become a cul u al hyb id whose li e emb aces mul iple languages and social
landscapes.
Al hough he li e expe iences associa ed wi h A opoli anism, as p oposed by
Selasi, lead o belie e ha i is only applicable o a ce ain ype o mig an , a well-
2
educa ed, quali ied and socially in eg a ed g oup o people who a e specially de ined by
hei e sa ili y, open-mindedness and o e all acknowledgemen o he wo ld’s cu en
con igu a ions and cons an mo emen , his in e p e a ion is no he mos p ominen no
in luen ial app oach shaping he discussion o his issue. Achille Mbembe’s concep o
he ci cula ion o wo lds o e s a much mo e lexible and open eading o he concep ,
p esen ing wo pe spec i es on mobili y and iden i y o ma ion which a e induced by
di e en easons. Fi s ly, he e is he ac ha A ica should be conside ed a place ha
d aws he a en ion o di e en people who decide o se le in a ious A ican coun ies,
meaning ha iden i y o ma ion is a con inuous p ocess in which indi iduals eel a
sense o belonging o mo e han one place. Secondly, he poin s o he ac ha he
A ican con inen is also acknowledged as a place o depa u e and hese depa u es a e
mo i a ed by wo di e en easons which a e se in dis inc pe iods o ime. The i s
eason was he sla e ade, meaning ha his was no a olun a y depa u e, being a he
pain ul and humilia ing o hose who we e o ced o lea e. The second and mos ecen
ype o mig a ion is olun a y and based on a a ie y o mo i a ions, namely he need
o be e li ing condi ions, a be e job, a be e educa ion, e c. This new gene a ion o
mig an s claim a new way o being in he wo ld and “ e eal he complexi y shaping
hei iden i y wi h ega d o bo h hei oo s and c oss-cul u al mode o being” (Kasanda
191). The e o e, he eme gence o he idea o A opoli anism was mean o be e
desc ibe hese hyb id indi iduals o he la e 20 h and ea ly 21s cen u y which would
la e on be depic ed in new A ican na a i es.
The mos acclaimed na a i es ha po ay he s o ies o his new gene a ion
belong o Anglophone A ican au ho s such as Teju Cole, Taiye Selasi, Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie, NoViole Bulawayo, e c. They a e equen ly labeled as A opoli ans
since hey sha e simila li e expe iences o he A ican diaspo a. Howe e , no all
9
consciousness and iden i y a ound he globe. This p emise, being ini ially ocused on
he concep o a gene a ion o A icans bo n ou side o A ica bu who we e s ill
connec ed h ough adi ion and lineage, has ce ainly e ol ed in o a phenomenon. As a
concep i is in e sec ional o geog aphy, iden i y, cul u e, gende and ace and also
ejec s he idea o bounding he A ican iden i y o a speci ic geog aphic loca ion. Being
A opoli an is o emb ace cul u al hyb idi y, o belong e e ywhe e and o A ica a he
same ime.
In he sec ion “A opoli anism in a cosmopoli an se ing” i will be explained
how he e m cosmopoli anism has e ol ed in o he neologism A opoli anism.
Fu he mo e, a compa ison be ween he o iginal concep and he newe one will be
es ablished, in o de o analyze bo h simila i ies and di e ences. O e he las decades,
due o a signi ican mig a o y low mainly caused by globaliza ion, A icans ha e ied
o unde s and how in e sec ed mobili ies and he no ion o “ci izen o he wo ld” migh
be connec ed. Also, Du Bois’ concep o double consciousness will be e isi ed since i
is a common eeling o an A opoli an, ha is, o eel o n be ween wo o mo e places
a he same ime. Fu he mo e, some A ican pos colonial w i e s will be conside ed and
s udied such as Kwame Appiah, Emma Dabi i and Taiye Selasi.
Taking in o conside a ion ha Ame icanah and We Need New Names ocus on
he expe ience o displacemen o wo young gi ls who e ol e, g ow up and e en
ein en hemsel es, i is impo an o in oduce he concep o Bildung o p ocess o
sel -cul i a ion, ocusing on he li e a y gen e ha be e applies o hese no els: he
Black Bildungs oman. The e o e, in he sec ion “A opoli anism and he Black
Bildungs oman: he jou ney o li e in A ican and A ican Ame ican ic ion” a b ie
con ex ualiza ion o he adi ional no el will be p esen ed in o de o unde s and how
he Black Bildungs oman is a ein en ion o he o iginal o mula.

10
Despi e some di e ences, his ecen a ia ion, like he classic gen e, ep esen s
he inne and physical g ow h o he sel . Howe e , he na a i es discuss he human
condi ion by po aying se e al social hemes such as mul icul u alism, in e cul u ali y
o basic human igh s. This gen e documen s a ques o an iden i y and by doing so
inci es he eade o ques ion con empo anei y and he di icul p ocesses h ough which
an indi idual mus go h ough in o de o e ol e and be ans o med.
1.2 Raising Black Awa eness: was Pan-A icanism he igh label?
1.2.1. His o icizing he Pan-A icanis spi i and i s challenges
In he 18 h cen u y, when 12 million A icans had been o cibly anspo ed o a
New Wo ld ha would only gi e hem a li e o subjuga ion, ha sh labo , and po e y, a
need o change became e iden . As gene a ions o ensla ed A ican descendan s we e
being bo n and aised in a li e o se i ude, he d eam o eedom would ha e o wai o
a leas a cen u y longe when, by he end o he Ci il Wa (1861-1865), he Uni ed
S a es Cons i u ion s a ed o change by employing h ee new amendmen s ha would
inally mean a new s a .
Fi s ly, i should be made clea ha in he beginning o he 19 h cen u y, be o e
he Ci il Wa and when sla e y was s ill a eali y, he aboli ionis mo emen had wo
ac ions: he conse a i es and he adicals. The o me , al hough being in a o o
abolishing sla e y, conside ed coloniza ion o be he igh solu ion o o me sla es
who should e u n o hei o igins. This pe spec i e could be conside ed aguely acis
since i implied ha hese o me sla es we e no welcomed o s ay. In con as , he
libe als belie ed ha hey had he igh o li e in he Ame ican con inen and o be a
pa o socie y. In spi e o his p edicamen as o whe e sla es should go when hei ime
11
o se i ude came o an end, he majo i y belie ed hey should e u n o A ica. Tha is
why in 1816 he Ame ican Coloniza ion Socie y (ACS) wan ed o c ea e an A ican
colony o a mass epa ia ion o eed sla es, since he scena io o Black and Whi e
people cohabi a ing eely was oo un ealis ic.
This colony, he na ion o Libe ia oday, was secu ed by he ACS
2
in 1821, hus
es ablishing a ha en o A icans o come back o. Acco ding o Sla es o Racism: An
Unb oken Chain om Ame ica o Libe ia (2008) i is es ima ed ha he Associa ion
anspo ed abou 12,000 A ican Ame icans o Libe ia om 1822 o 1867, o which
app oxima ely 4,500 we e bo n ee; 350 pu chased hei eedom; and 6,000 we e
o me sla es. Al hough he majo i y was going o a place hey had ne e known
3
,
o he s s epped eely in o he ships, con iden hey would
“ egain mas e y o hei li es” (Aje 30). As aboli ionism was g owing s onge in he
1830s, he ACS s a ed o suppo he end o sla e y while also p omo ing Libe ia
4
.
In he a e ma h o he Ci il Wa , in 1865, he 13 h Amendmen o mally
abolished sla e y. In 1868, he 14 h Amendmen add essed he issue o ci izenship and,
2
A ica’s wes e n coas was i s ly explo ed by he Po uguese, especially wi h Ped o de Sin a who had
eached he coas in 1461. This egion was called by ollowing explo e s as G and Cape Moun , Cape
Mesu ado and Cape Palmas. The a ea which would la e on become Libe ia was ini ially known as G ain
o Peppe Coas due o he ac ha peppe g ains we e he main cu ency o ade. La e , in he 19 h
cen u y, when he ACS was al eady p oposing o e u n o me sla es o he con inen , he G ain Coas
became a sui able place o his p ocess o ake place. In 1818, he ACS isi ed his egion and ound no
Eu opean se le s, hus signing an ag eemen wi h local na i e chie s g an ing he socie y possession o
Cape Mesu ado which is loca ed on he coas o Libe ia and nea he capi al o Mon o ia.
3
Gi en he ac ha mos eed sla es we e comple ely unawa e o li e in Libe ia, emig a ing was in ac
a isk no many hough was wo h aking. Be o e depa ing, colonis s ied o ge as much in o ma ion
hey could abou Libe ia. The e we e e en speeches gi en by ACS agen s who had been he e al eady o
aded co espondence be ween hose who had se led.
4
I is impo an o no e ha Libe ia was no he only place A ican Ame icans could mig a e o. The e
was also in e es in going o Hai i and e en Canada. A e he Ci il Wa , abou 6,000 mig an s wen o
Hai i and 20,000 le Ame ica o Canada. (Aje 36)
12
inally, in 1870, he 15 h Amendmen g an ed o me sla es he igh o o e. These h ee
laws we e undamen al in he pe iod ha ollowed he Ame ican Ci il Wa , he
Recons uc ion E a (1865-1877), in which he e was an e o o igh agains acial
inequali y howe e di icul i was o he sou he n s a es who we e being o e powe ed
by he p esence o no he n mili an s. Du ing his pe iod, he i s ins inc o hese
ecen ly eed sla es was o ind hei long los ela i es, whom hey had ne e me o
om whom hey we e sepa a ed o yea s. Fo a while he e was a sense o hope and
belie in p og ess, bu as no he n oops e ea ed om he Sou h and he
Recons uc ion pe iod s a ed o ade, hese people we e o ced o ind a new li e a
away om he Sou h o sa e hei newly achie ed ci izenship. Wi hou he con ol o
he No h, whi e sup emacis s soon ees ablished he old o de by using b u al and
public iolence in esponse o he new poli ical igh s ha o me sla es had been
g an ed.
Howe e , in some A ican Ame ican social ci cles an idealized image o a
so e eign A ica and o A icans uni ed by ances y eme ged as an al e na i e. This idea
was ne e o iginally emb aced by A ican Ame ican aboli ionis s who we e no
amilia ized wi h he A ican con inen and a he wan ed o s ay in Ame ica and be
assu ed o hei equal igh s in o de o li e peace ully. Ne e heless, Pan-A icanism’s
g oundwo k s a s wi h hese ea ly expe iences o sending people back o A ica, such
as he si ua ion o Libe ia. This u opia o e u n began o ake shape in he wo k o a
mino i y o schola s such as Edwa d Wilmo Blyden
5
(1832-1912) and Alexande
5
Blyden was a diploma , a poli ician, and a w i e , bo n in Sain Thomas, Danish An illes, and aised by
ee and educa ed pa en s. In 1850, he mo ed o he New Wo ld o s udy heology, bu no Ame ican
uni e si y admi ed him due o acial disc imina ion.
13
C ummell
6
(1819-1898), in he mid-19 h cen u y, who p oposed he idea o an undi ided
A ican cul u e and iden i y as a esponse o he con inen ’s Eu opean coloniza ion and
exploi a ion. This would become he backbone o he mo emen known as Pan-
A icanism. This mo emen had i s i s appea ances in he Black in ellec ual discou se
a he Chicago Cong ess in 1893, he i s Pan-A ican Con e ence in 1900 and he i s
Pan-A ican Cong ess in 1919, in which W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) pa icipa ed as a
delega e. In all hese eunions and o he s ha happened h ough nea ly hal a cen u y,
a ious schola s and poli ical leade s would discuss A ica’s cu en si ua ion, in o de
o achie e hei main goal: con inen al libe a ion om Eu opean coloniza ion. In a
b oade sense, i is belie ed by many heo is s, such as Aminah Wallace, ha Pan-
A icanism is a esul o he s uggles ha he i s descendan s o A ican sla es wen
h ough. These descendan s would lead o he o ma ion o he A ican diaspo a.
Millions o A icans we e o cibly anspo ed o he New Wo ld and new na ions we e
es ablished whe e A icans we e a signi ican mino i y o e en a majo i y. An i-A ican
acism, mainly suppo ed by he Ku Klux Klan, became a eali y in which hese
A icans we e denied basic human igh s such as he igh o o e, good educa ion and
sa e housing. The e a e many al e na i e in e p e a ions o Pan-A icanism in he
in ellec ual discou se. Some schola s, as Enoh explains, see i as a acial mo emen
conce ned wi h he ambi ions o all Black people; o he s conside i a igh o he
independence o A ican coun ies sou h o he Saha a; while o o he s his simply
means A ican uni y and solida i y (Enoh 85). The e o e, he e a e many di e en
in e p e a ions which app oach all kinds o a eas such as poli ics, economics, iden i y,
6
Alexande C ummell ained o he p ies hood, becoming an Episcopal p ies . He s udied mo al
philosophy a Camb idge Uni e si y and ook a bachelo 's deg ee a Queen's College a Camb idge. As a
suppo e o he an i-sla e y mo emen , he subsequen ly wen o Libe ia aking a posi ion as a p o esso
o English and mo al philosophy a Libe ia College. Howe e , some challenges led him o e u n o he
S a es a e he Ci il Wa .
14
cul u e and e en eligion. Despi e hese al e na i e eadings, he gene al opinion
belie ed ha Pan-A icanism:
. . . can be aced o he e a o he Eu opean sla e ade when ensla ed
A icans, whe he en ou e o o al eady in he New Wo ld, g ie ed and
longed o uni e wi h hei kin on he A ican con inen . This implies ha
he o igin o Pan-A icanism is ela ed o he ac i i ies o A ican
descendan s in he diaspo a (Esedebe 45-46)
Rega dless o his ag eemen , i is impo an o b ing o his discussion he ision
o hose known as he o e a he s o Pan-A icanism namely Edwa d Blyden and W.E.B
Du Bois. Despi e sha ing di e en pe spec i es om Blyden abou he igh u u e o
A icans, Du Bois was also in a o o achie ing eedom om any kind o opp ession.
Conce ning Blyden’s poin o iew on his ma e , he has equen ly been
accused o lack o cohe ence and being con adic o y wi h his pe spec i es. In 1851,
Blyden had mig a ed o Libe ia and he belie ed ha i was i al and bene icial o ha e a
connec ion wi h A ican o igins. E en hough he Ame ican Coloniza ion Socie y’s
p ojec had been se in mo ion, Blyden
7
al eady belie ed ha e u ning o he con inen
was an oppo uni y o c ea e a so e eign and powe ul Black s a e, o educa e hei
indigenous ‘b o he s’
8
and id “ hei ances al homeland om supposed sa age y and
da kness” (Bassey 42). He became a s ong suppo e o acial p ide and de ende o
he e u n o he diaspo a o he con inen , ad oca ing ha “as long as he e a e
Ch is ian Neg oes in his land who may do a ci ilizing wo k in A ica, and who desi e
o go hi he , so long will his coloniza ion en e p ise be a necessa y and bene icen
agency” (Blyden 46). Al hough he comple ely ejec ed he in e io i y o he Black
indi idual, he de ended “ acial di e en ia ion” (Hen iksen 283) which es ablished ha
7
One o his majo wo ks is A Vindica ion o he Neg o Race (1857).
8
Ame ico-Libe ians only ep esen ed 5% o he popula ion in Libe ia. Despi e being sho in numbe s,
wi h he help o se le s hey de eloped a Wes -based poli ical sys em, hus ha ing con ol o e he
na i es.

15
all aces we e di e en bu equal. Blyden’s pe spec i e becomes incohe en when he
s a ed ha he coloniza ion en e p ise was an “e ec i e” (Blyden 43) ac o ci iliza ion
and ad an ageous o he con inen .
Among he agencies p oposed o ca ying on he wo k o ci ilisa ion in
A ica, none has p o ed so e ec i e as he Ame ican Colonisa ion
en e p ise. People who alk o he ci ilising and ele a ing in luence o
me e ade on ha con inen , do so because hey a e unacquain ed wi h he
ac s. No can missiona ies alone do his wo k. (. . .) We say, also, send he
missiona y o e e y ibe and e e y illage. Mul iply h oughou he
coun y he e angelizing agencies. Line he banks o he i e s wi h he
p eache s o igh eousness—pene a e he jungles wi h hose holy
pionee s— c own he moun ain- ops wi h you chu ches, and ill he
alleys wi h you schools. No single agency is su icien o cope wi h he
mul i a ious needs o he migh y wo k. Bu he indispensable agency is he
Colony. G oups o Ch is ian and ci ilized se le s mus , in e e y ins ance
b ing up he ea , i he esul s o you wo k a e o be widesp ead,
bene icial and endu ing. (Blyden 43)
Al hough Blyden had ideologically suppo ed he coloniza ion en e p ise, i does
no mean ha his ideas we e aligned wi h he gene al conse a i e opinion. E en
hough he aboli ionis mo emen s a ed wi h such na ow-minded ideas, i ce ainly
e ol ed in o p og essi e ones. The e o e, Blyden migh ha e looked o he coloniza ion
p ojec and he e u n o A ica as an oppo uni y o change he con inen o he be e .
I is also undamen al o cla i y ha a ha ime he A ican con inen was idealized.
Fo me sla es did no emembe whe e hey had come om, wha hey we e o iginally
called, he language hey spoke o wha he idea o na ion e en was. The con inen i sel
was equen ly mis aken o a whole coun y, comple ely igno ing all he cul u al and
eligious di e ences ha exis ed.
As o he A ican diaspo a, many A icans in Eu ope had lea ned much abou
he Wes bu no hing o hei na i e lands which led o a comple e assimila ion o he
ecei ing cul u e. Many well-educa ed A icans began o see hemsel es as Eu opeans.
The e o e, he colonialis p ojec was ha m ul o he A icans’ sense o sel : “The
sla e y o he mind is a mo e des uc i e han ha o he body” (Blyden 13). In o de
16
o p ese e A ican cul u e and he i age, Blyden conside ed ha he in insic quali ies
which he e med “A ican pe sonali y” we e undamen al in exp essing he singula i y
o he con inen al iden i y which was ela ed o he ideology o A ican na ionalism, a
poli ical mo emen ha alued he collec i e as a single so e eign na ion.
Blyden’s pe spec i es we e sha ed by o he in ellec uals, namely Alexande
C ummell (1818-1898). He also belie ed ha A ican egene a ion should come om
ci ilized A ican Ch is ians o he diaspo a and conside ed Libe ia an “exempla y black
na ion” (Hen iksen 3); hus becoming a s ong ad oca e o i s de elopmen as a na ion.
C ummell no only belie ed ha he “ egene a ion o A ica in gene al mus come om
ou side” (Adi 14), bu also ha A icans had cha ac e is ics ha would aise he ace’s
in e io i y o a s a e o p ominence. In 1897, when he le Libe ia, he ounded he
Ame ican Neg o Academy which was he i s o ganiza ion in Ame ica o encou age
A ican Ame icans o pu sui academic ca ee s.
O e all, Blyden conside ed ha Black people a ound he wo ld we e a single
na ion who should be as p oud as he was o be Black. These ideas led o he Black
cul u al enaissance o he mid-20 h cen u y which “awakened A ican consciousness in
Ame ica” (Hen iksen 284) and helped no only A ican Ame icans bu also A icans o
become sel -awa e o hei acial iden i y and e hnic cul u e. Blyden’s main objec i e
was no only o p ese e A icans’ he i age, bu also o link A icans om all locali ies
and achie e global uni ica ion.
The second in luen ial oice o his discussion is ha o W.E.B. Du Bois, a
dis inguished in ellec ual who belonged o one o he mos impo an Black cul u al
mo emen s, he Ha lem Renaissance, in which he conside ed he union be ween a and
li e a u e a ool o achie e acial equali y and gi e no ice o A ican Ame ican
c ea i i y. A e publishing a collec ion o essays en i led The Souls o Black Folk
17
(1903), in 1909, Du Bois becomes a ounding membe o he Na ional Associa ion o
he Ad ancemen o Colo ed People (NAACP), an Ame ican o ganiza ion igh ing o
he aboli ion o seg ega ion and acial disc imina ion. In 1919, Du Bois co-o ganized
he Fi s Pan-A ican Cong ess in Pa is, which ga he ed delega es om Eu ope, A ica,
he Ca ibbean and he Uni ed S a es. In he a o emen ioned collec ion o essays, Du
Bois acknowledged ha he disc imina o y ba ie be ween Black and Whi e people was
undoub edly he p oblem o he 20 h cen u y. The “colo -line” (Du Bois 32), as he
e med i , caused epe cussions o he Black indi idual’s sel -awa eness, making him
eel as an ou side who knows himsel h ough he pe cep ion o o he s.
A e he Egyp ian and Indian, he G eek and Roman, he Teu on and
Mongolian, he Neg o is a so o se en h son, bo n wi h a eil, and gi ed
wi h second-sigh * in his Ame ican wo ld,––a wo ld which yields him no
ue sel -consciousness, bu only le s him see himsel h ough he
e ela ion o he o he wo ld. I is a peculia sensa ion, his double-
consciousness, his sense o always looking a one’s sel h ough he eyes
o o he s, o measu ing one’s soul by he ape o a wo ld ha looks on in
amused con emp and pi y. One e e eels his wo-ness,––an Ame ican, a
Neg o; wo souls, wo hough s, wo un econciled s i ings; wo wa ing
ideals in one da k body, whose dogged s eng h alone keeps i om being
o n asunde . (Du Bois 8)
This sense o “ wo-ness” ce ainly implied ha i should be possible o be a pa
o wo cul u es a he same ime. This eeling is bu a spa k o some hing ha would
expand in he la e 20 h and ea ly 21s cen u y wi h A opoli anism. The new way o
A icans o be in he wo ld is o cons an ly eel o n be ween wo o mo e cul u es,
adi ions and mos o all iden i ies. Howe e , Du Bois desc ibes hese eelings as
“un econciled s i ings” (Du Bois 8) whe eas a ue A opoli an mus emb ace and
accep his condi ion. He acknowledged ha his s uggle “[was] no only o in ense and
li ing in e es o us bu o ms an epoch in he his o y o mankind” (Du Bois 79). Such
epoch ocused on de ining ace as a g oup o indi iduals who sha ed a se o
cha ac e is ics (language, cul u e, adi ion, e c.) ha b ough hem oge he whe he
18
olun a ily o no (Du Bois 80-81). Conce ning he “Neg o” ace, as he e med i , Du
Bois de ended ha i was des ined o g ea accomplishmen s in he ields o science,
li e a u e, a , philosophy and so on. Howe e , he in ellec ual made i clea ha
“Neg oes” (Du Bois 83) should no allow hemsel es o be psychologically and
cul u ally abso bed by Whi e Ame icans, o he sake o “Pan-Neg oism” (Du Bois 83),
a concep which was al eady being aken in o conside a ion by he philosophe .
The e o e, in he spi i o uni y and b o he hood, Du Bois p oudly s a ed:
Tha i in Ame ica i is o be p o en o he i s ime in he mode n wo ld
ha no only Neg oes a e capable o e ol ing indi idual men like
Toussain , he Sa iou , bu a e a na ion s o ed wi h wonde ul possibili ies
o cul u e, hen hei des iny is no a se ile imi a ion o Anglo-Saxon
cul u e, bu a s alwa o iginali y which shall unswe ingly ollow Neg o
ideals. (Du Bois 83)
In sea ch o his o iginali y, he A ican Ame ican s ill s uggles wi h he duali y
ha haun s him, he sel -ques ioning o whose side mus he belong o and why mus he
belong anywhe e in he i s place. Acco ding o Du Bois, hese dilemmas led o
i esolu ion, a s a e o idleness and a was e o b igh minds whose alen was solely used
“ o do he bidding o he ace” (Du Bois 84). Consequen ly, he claimed ha he Black
ace could only p o ec and conse e i sel h ough “ ace o ganiza ion, by ace
solida i y, by ace uni y” (Du Bois 84); h ee main poin s which would la e on be
consis en ly de ended in he Pan-A ican Cong esses. Acco ding o Du Bois, he Fi s
Pan-A ican Con e ence o 1900, in London, was he i s ime “Pan-A icanism” was
e e used; howe e , yea s be o e, in 1893, he Chicago Cong ess had al eady applied
he e m.
Rega ding Du Bois and Blyden’s pe spec i es, i is known ha he o me
exp essed an admi a ion o Blyden’s wo k, p aising him as “ he p ophe o he
enaissance o he Neg o ace” (Du Bois 7). Du Bois’ la e con ic ions we e in a o o
an an i-colonial na ionalism, which denied ex e io domina ion. He de ended ha he
25
he edi o o The Voice (1917), he i s newspape o he New Neg o Mo emen in
Ha lem.
I is impo an o cla i y ha his cul u al and li e a y mo emen consis ed,
acco ding o Da id Le e ing Lewis, o h ee main pe iods: he Bohemian Renaissance
(1917-1923), he e a o he Talen ed Ten h (1924-1926), and he Neg o Renaissance
(1926-1935). Fi s ly, he Bohemian Renaissance was mainly domina ed by Whi e
au ho s who we e adicals and we e appealed by he A ican Ame ican way o li e. The
second pe iod s ill depended on he collabo a ion be ween Whi e allies, some imes
known as “Neg o a ians”, and hose known as he Talen ed Ten h
11
, p esided by Black
ci il igh s leade s such as Du Bois and Cha les Spu geon Johnson, leade o he
Na ional U ban League (NUL). This phase was op imis ic abou wha could be achie ed
h ough a . The las pe iod, he Neg o Renaissance, was es ablished by a much younge
gene a ion o a is s who ebelled agains he s anda ds o he p e ious gene a ion.
These young ebels conside ed he second gene a ion o be eli is and ashamed o he
Black communi y’s eali y. These younge w i e s
12
o he enaissance included Claude
McKay, Wallace Thu man and Langs on Hughes.
Alain Locke’s
13
The New Neg o
14
(1925), a as collec ion o essays, poe y,
plays, music and a by Whi e and Black a is s, was a esponse o he younge
11
This e m was c ea ed by Du Bois and was i s men ioned in an a icle published in The Neg o
P oblem in 1903. Du Bois’ p emise is based on he highe educa ion o A ican Ame icans who needed a
classical educa ion in o de o each hei maximum po en ial.
12
They we e also known as he “ i e gene a ion” due o he FIRE!! Magazine in which hey all published
among many o he s. Howe e , his magazine had only one issue since i s headqua e s bu ned down,
o cing he en i e p ojec o be shu down.
13
Locke did no con ibu e o his collec ion and was only i s main edi o . He was ecognized o his
in e p e a ions o A ican Ame ican a and li e a u e.
14
The New Neg o was based on he con en s o he 1925 edi ion o Su ey G aphic. An edi ion especially
dedica ed o he Ha lem dis ic and wi h an emphasis on he a s, which was qui e uncommon o his
kind o magazine.

26
gene a ion which ale ed o a cul u al e olu ion abou o happen no only in New
Yo k
15
bu a ound he wo ld as well. Locke de ended Black a o be he exp ession o
he a is s’ indi iduali y and ejec ed i as way o ad e ising Black expe ience o he
sake o a social cause. Du Bois and Locke’s pe spec i es did no go hand in hand. Du
Bois, o ins ance, conside ed ha a s could help ad e ise acial equali y and b eak
nega i e s e eo ypes once and o all. The e o e, a was a ool o ep esen he A ican
Ame ican in his bes beha io . In con as , Locke was a pa o he younge gene a ion
who ejec ed he snobbe y and eli ism o a much mo e p i ileged gene a ion. He
belie ed ha a should ha e no es ain s no il e s. The e o e, The New Neg o was a
way o gi e oice o hese young au ho s who wan ed o po ay li e as i was.
Needless o say ha he “New Neg o” ook o e he “Old Neg o”, ano he
concep Locke men ions in he collec ion. The Old Neg o was he “ o mula” (Locke 28)
o he Neg o in he Sou h, de enseless, cap i e, condemned, a social bu den o e all.
Once he G ea Mig a ion allowed him o mo e elsewhe e, he so-called “Neg o
p oblem” became na ion-wide and unsec ionalized and hus “in he e y p ocess o
being ansplan ed, he Neg o [was] becoming ans o med” (Locke 30) in o some hing
new. Howe e , he mo emen was no en i ely success ul. I ailed by no aking ac ual
measu es ha would imp o e bo h economically and socially he li es o A ican
Ame icans and also o a oiding Whi e condescendence, since he mo emen “was soon
‘colonized’ by whi e socie y and became ashionable among whi e in ellec uals” (Jack
32) who ook in e es in Black li e a u e ha was di e en om he s e eo ype.
15
A e Wo ld Wa I, he G ea Mig a ion led a ound 500,000 A ican Ame icans om he Sou h o he
No h, Wes and Midwes ci ies, in sea ch o a be e li e, o con on acial p ejudice and c ea e a black
cul u e ha would lea e a ma k in he wo ld. Ha lem was one o hose ci ies and his new sense o
aes he ic was e lec ed e e ywhe e, in magazines, newspape s, hea e s, music, e c.
27
In he la e 20s, in Pa is, a simila mo emen would s a o ise. Cul u al,
none heless, he ideology which would be known as Nég i ude o Neg i ude eme ged
om he up ising o a small g oup o Black in ellec uals agains F ench colonialism and
acism. This exp ession o e ol was in luenced by he encoun e o h ee Black
s uden s who belonged o di e en F ench colonies. Aimé Césai e
16
(1913-2008), om
Ma inique, Léopold Séda Sengho (1912-1978), om Senegal, and Léon-Gon am
Damas
17
(1906-2001), om Guiana.
Al hough i was ne e a o mal o ganiza ion, his cul u al p ojec s a ed wi h
hea ed discussions be ween iends and colleagues who we e also a pa o he diaspo a
and sha ed he same in e es o A ica. “Neg i ude was no simply a se o disembodied
heo ies abou colonialism and A icani y” (Wilde 151). I s main objec i e was o
ejec assimila ion and o Black people o become ac i is s o e alia e agains he
nega i e s e eo ypes induced by Wes e n socie y and in so doing celeb a ing hei
cul u e and acial iden i y. Sengho , Césai e and Damas soon became he hos s o many
o hese discussions. They ga he ed in ca és, dance halls, es au an s. Jus like Ha lem in
he 20s, Pa is was also a ci y ull o A ican descendan s om a ious places hus
c ea ing a sel -conscious Black communi y who sha ed he same expe iences o
acializa ion.
The Neg i ude mo emen was in luenced by he Ha lem Renaissance and by Du
Bois’ campaign o celeb a ing Black iden i y in No h Ame ican socie y. In e ec ,
Neg i ude sha ed he same ideology. In hese discussions, in Pa is, hey me many Black
16
Aimé Césai e and Léon Damas had al eady me be o e coming o Pa is in 1931. They we e classma es
in Fo -de-F ance, in Ma inique, whe e hey bo h g adua ed om Vic o Schoelche High School.
17
Once in Pa is, Damas wan ed o s udy Law while Césai e had been accep ed a Lycée Louis Le G and
o s udy o he admission es o he p es igious École No male Supé ieu e. Upon his a i al a he Lycée,
he me Sengho who had al eady been a s uden a Louis le G and o h ee yea s.
28
Ame ican w i e s, such as Langs on Hughes (1902-1967) o Claude McKay (1889-
1948). Sengho and his iends had e en hea d o Alain Locke’s collec ion o essays and
we e e y imp essed wi h i . Howe e , ce ain pe spec i es o Locke c ea ed some so
o ension. Despi e suppo ing he c ea ion o a b o he hood and p omo ing a sense o
uni y, Locke also iewed cul u al assimila ion as a way o “ ans o ming Ame ica, no
escaping i ” (Wilde 176).
In 1935, he g oup o Black in ellec uals had hei i s and only publica ion in
L’É udian Noi which cons i u ed a way o hem o openly p esen hei opinions as
hey saw i . The e m Nég i ude is ne e men ioned in his issue and does no appea
un il Aimé Césai e coined he e m in his wo k Cahie d’un Re ou au Pays Na al
(1939) o No ebook o a Re u n o he Na i e Land. In L’É udian Noi , howe e ,
Césai e’s a icle Nèg e ies
18
(1935) caugh a lo o a en ion. He ejec ed cul u al
assimila ion which he hough was he exp ession o u mos s upidi y and a delusion ha
could ne e be ully achie ed since i igno ed he acial di e ences and he ine i able
acism. The e o e, Césai e calls Black you h o ac ion, o go agains he colonize s and
igh back he u ge o assimila e. In Discou se on Colonialism (1950), Césai e’s
pe spec i e is much mo e consolida ed on hese opics. Colonialism is ha m ul o bo h
he se le and he na i e, i in ac :
. . . dehumanizes e en he mos ci ilized man; ha colonial ac i i y,
colonial en e p ise, colonial conques , which is based on con emp o he
na i e and jus i ied by ha con emp , ine i ably ends o change him who
unde akes i ; ha he colonize , who in o de o ease his conscience ge s
in o he habi o seeing he o he man as an animal, accus oms himsel o
ea ing him like an animal, and ends objec i ely o ans o m himsel in o
an animal. I is his esul , his boome ang e ec o coloniza ion ha I
wan ed o poin ou . (Césai e 41)
I is his “boome ang e ec ” ha ul ima ely u ns he ci ilized man in o a c uel
animal and he e o e in o a acis , conside ing he o he animal ( he na i e) as in e io .
18
A neologism combining nèg es and e e ies which could be in e p e ed as black illusions o d eams.
29
Wi h his hie a chy es ablished he only ela ionship he e could be is o domina ion and
submission. Acco ding o Césai e, he wo s aspec o all is ha colonialism is a alse
on o p og ess and an un ul illed p omise. Ins ead o helping o achie e some hing, i
only d ains he communi y o hei essence. The e o e, Neg i ude “was eally a
esis ance o he poli ics o assimila ion” (Césai e 88). Acco ding o Césai e, he o igin
o he ue meaning o Neg i ude s a ed in Hai i, whe e he his o y o emancipa ion o
many A icans became an inspi a ion. The Republic o Hai i was o iginally popula ed
by he A awak/Taino indigenous communi ies. As hey we e disappea ing, A ican
sla es we e b ough o his colony. The Hai ian Re olu ion (1791-1804) had a
signi ican dimension, u ning in o a wa o libe a ion. Sla e y was o icially abolished
in Sain -Domingue in 1793 and Toussain Lou e u e, a o me sla e and one o he
leade s o he e olu ion, was appoin ed Go e no -Gene al. Hai i’s independence
ep esen ed a de iance agains colonialism and acialism.
Among he h ee iends, Damas was he only one ha did no w i e o
L’É udian Noi bu was in ol ed in he edi o ial pa . Acco ding o him, “ his new
jou nal was a sel -conscious a emp no only o add ess a Pan A ican communi y o
colonial s uden s in F ance bu o call one in o being” (Damas 59). The ac ha in 1919
he i s Pan-A ican Cong ess was held in Pa is was al eady enough eason o ano he
A ican-based ideology o ake o m. An ideology ha essen ially claimed a sys em o
human alues, he igh o Black people o ha e hei own cul u e and communi y and
no be idiculed. O e all, Neg i ude mean accep ing Blackness.
A e analyzing hese wo mo emen s, i is now ime o in oduce and s udy he
main heme o his disse a ion, A opoli anism, which in he 21s cen u y in oduces a
new concep o A ican iden i y in ela ion o he globalized and cosmopoli an wo ld we
li e in oday.
30
1.4. Essen ials o an A opoli an: de ining an “A ican o he wo ld”
The neologism A opoli anism was i s concei ed o desc ibe a mig a o y low
o he ea ly 21s cen u y which led o a new gene a ion o A icans who we e bo n
ou side he A ican con inen o simply le i behind bu we e s ill connec ed o hei
oo s. E en ually, his e m e ol es in o a phenomenon o he cen u y, a way o being
A ican in he wo ld. To be A opoli an was o be connec ed o he con inen , o i s
adi ions, bu a he same ime be able o li e amongs di e en communi ies. This new
pe sonali y p aises “a s a e o cul u al hyb idi y – o be o A ica and o o he wo lds a
he same ime” (Gikandi 9-10).
In ela ion o his way o being, his A ican exodus was no o be pe cei ed as a
loss bu as a “cul u al bonus” (Gikandi 9-10), decons uc ing he p econcei ed idea o a
singula and unique A ican iden i y. The e m A opoli anism was i s p esen ed by
Taiye Tuakli-Woso nu, be e known as Taiye Selasi, a B i ish Ame ican w i e o
Ghanaian and Nige ian descen , in an a icle published in LIP Magazine en i led “Bye-
Bye Baba ” o “Wha is an A opoli an?” (2005), o which she eplies ha hey a e
“A icans o he wo ld” (Selasi n.p.). He use o he e m e e s o he mig a o y low o
A icans o he Wes a ound he 60s and 70s who, nowadays, a e pa en s o his new
gene a ion o A opoli ans who a a younge age had “ o o ge a sense o sel om
wildly dispa a e sou ces” (Selasi n.p.). The au ho p o ides a concep o
in e connec edness, a s a e o geog aphical de achmen , which means o belong
anywhe e and nowhe e a he same ime. Howe e , his no ion only applies o a Black
eli e o A ican emig an s, a new gene a ion o indi iduals who we e ei he bo n ou side
o A ica o le hei home in pu sui o a be e li e. The A opoli an is polished, well-
educa ed, an a -lo e , a music connoisseu , he e o e, a e sa ile sel .
They ( ead: we) a e A opoli ans – he newes gene a ion o A ican
emig an s, coming soon o collec ed al eady a a law i m/chem lab/jazz

31
lounge nea you. You’ll know us by ou unny blend o London ashion,
New Yo k ja gon, A ican e hics, and academic successes. Some o us a e
e hnic mixes, e.g. Ghanaian and Canadian, Nige ian and Swiss; o he s
me ely cul u al mu s: Ame ican accen , Eu opean a ec , A ican e hos.
Mos o us a e mul ilingual: in addi ion o English and a Roman ic o wo,
we unde s and some indigenous ongue and speak a ew u ban e nacula s.
The e is a leas one place on The A ican Con inen o which we ie ou
sense o sel . . . (Selasi n.p.)
Al hough his scena io desc ibed by Selasi sounds p omising, she ecognizes ha
he A opoli an has o deal wi h a lo o p essu e esul ing om his/he o igins and
his/he new li e in he Wes . Many a e ei he ashamed o hei ances y, o being
connec ed o a place ha only bea s nega i e conno a ions o ashamed o losing ouch
wi h hei homeland and being oo connec ed o he ecei ing cul u e. This indi idual
has di icul y in consolida ing his/he iden i y which cons an ly s uggles wi h he
duali y ha shapes i . The e o e, Selasi s a es ha he A opoli an is o en “los in
ansna ion” (Selasi n.p.). A duali y which also conce ns he his o ical dilemma o
Blackness, ha is, o claim i as being pa o one’s pe sonali y o no . In he a icle,
Selasi cla i ies ha ace is a poli ical ma e and is in no way ela ed o me e colo o
skin (Selasi n.p.), meaning ha each indi idual pe spec i e on ace is shaped by he
poli ical o ces o any place. The e o e, A opoli anism is o be in acco dance wi h a
uni e sal sense o A icanness and no o Blackness pe se.
In 2015, en yea s a e “Bye-Bye Baba ”, Taiye Selasi ga e a TED Talk en i led
Don’ ask whe e I’m om, ask me whe e I’m local in which she explains ha no one’s
iden i y belongs o a ixed place and has ies o a single coun y. People a e made o li e
expe iences which can occu on a ious poin s o he wo ld. The e o e, he au ho ,
eplacing he language o na ionali y wi h he language o locali y, concludes ha “all o
us a e mul i, mul i-local, mul i-laye ed” (Selasi n.p.) and expe iences a e wha de ine
us. Du ing he alk, she men ions he amous a icle, which encou aged a ne e -ending
deba e, jus i ying he sel as o why such a wo d is so impo an o he . I is so because i
32
de ines he . In being mul i-local, he iden i y akes ise on he a ious local expe iences
ha de ine he . The e o e, du ing he TED alk, she s a es ha she w o e ha a icle
because she:
. . . el shu ou om a ious iden i ies: Ame ican, B i ish, Kenya and
Nige ian, no one e e seems o be sa is ied by my claims o being one o
he o he o a combina ion o he ou and so I hough o mysel 'well
he e mus be some al e na i es ha I'm missing' and A opoli anism was
my way o concei ing o ha al e na i e. (Selasi n.p.)
Al hough Selasi’s in e p e a ion caused qui e a s i in he cul u al discou se,
he e is ano he in e p e a ion o A opoli anism which belongs o Joseph Achille
Mbembe, a philosophe and in ellec ual who, wo yea s a e “Bye Bye Baba ”, w o e
an a icle en i led “A opoli anism”
19
. His main p emise is he “ci cula ion o he
wo lds” (Mbembe 2007), which de ends a bo de less ci cula ion o e e y indi idual and
cul u e and sc u inizes he synonymi y be ween he A ican con inen and Black people.
Al hough many Black people a e A ican ha does no mean ha all A icans a e Black
and ice e sa. Mbembe says so himsel : “Black people do no ha e an exclusi i y o
A ican ci izenship by i ue o he colo o hei skin” (Mbembe n.p.).
The mobili y implied in his ci cula ion o wo lds, acco ding o Mbembe, has
been a pa o A ican his o y o cen u ies, going back o a ime be o e he coloniza ion
o he con inen when he nomadic communi ies would always be on he mo e. I was
his cons an mo emen ha led o he o ma ion o coun less A ican iden i ies and
cul u es.
In ac , A ican p e-colonial his o y was, mos o he ime, a p ocess o
people cons an ly mo ing ac oss he con inen . I is a p ocess o cul u es in
collision, locked in o he maels om o wa s, in asions, mig a ions, mixed
ma iages, di e se eligions ha one makes his own, echniques ha a e
19
This a icle was i s published online on he F ench magazine A icul u es, in 2005. Two yea s la e i
appea s in he Johannesbu g A Galle y’s ca alogue “A ica Remix: Con empo a y A o a Con inen ”.
In 2010, an expanded e sion o his essay is published in So i de la g ande nui : Essai su l’A ique
décolonisée o Ge ing ou o he big nigh : Essay on a decolonized A ica [my ansla ion].
33
exchanged, and goods ha a e dis ibu ed. The cul u al his o y o he
con inen can ba ely be unde s ood ou side he pa adigm o homelessness,
mobili y and displacemen (Mbembe n.p.)
20
.
E en du ing he colonial pe iod and he consequen ounda ion o bo de s, his
ou look endu ed and was able o es ablish ci ies such as Daka , Nai obi and
Johannesbu g which u ned in o cosmopoli an mic ocosmos. The pos colonial pe iod is
in ac he one Mbembe mos analyses. In o de o unde s and A opoli anism he ies o
se an his o ical con ex ualiza ion o when ha e m came o exis and unde wha
ci cums ances. Al hough he p ecolonial pe iod is o ex eme impo ance due o he
mobili y ha cha ac e ized i , he pos colonial his o y is undamen al o he neologism.
Mbembe s a s by es ablishing wo main momen s in his pe iod. The i s momen , a
na ionalis one, desc ibes he p ocess o decoloniza ion and independence which would
soon lead o pos colonialism. The second momen encompasses he las qua e o he
20 h cen u y and is de ined by ansna ionalism which esul ed in he c ea ion o a
consolida ed diaspo a. I is in his con ex ha A opoli anism appea s, in his
“imb ica ion o he e and elsewhe e, he p esence o he elsewhe e in he he e and ice
e sa” (Mbembe 229). In Mbembe’s ision, A opoli anism also anscends acial
bo de s, jus as Selasi de ends on he pe spec i e.
In e ospec , hese wo poin s o iew mus be analyzed sepa a ely. Despi e
ce ain simila i ies, bo h in ellec uals s a o wi h di e en app oaches o
A opoli anism. On he one hand, Selasi no only belie es ha A opoli anism is a new
phenomenon which can be aced back o pos colonialism o he la e 20 h cen u y, bu
he pe spec i e also explo es an eli is and u ban g oup o young A ican mig an s who
a e “cul u ally hyb id, socially and p o essionally in eg a ed” (Kasanda 381-382) in
majo cosmopoli an ci ies. O e all, being A opoli an is a label ha any A ican li ing
20
T ansla ion by Albe Kasanda in “A opoli anism as a C i ique o Con en ional Na a i es o A ican
Iden i y and Emancipa ion” (Kasanda, 382).
34
in he Wes will au oma ically bea (Makhoka 16-17). He/she is an ideal ci izen,
desc ibed as:
. . . he newes gene a ion o A ican emig an s . . . You will know us by
ou unny blend o London ashion, New Yo k ja gon, A ican e hics, and
academic successes. Some o us a e e hnic mixes . . . o he s me ely
cul u al mu s: Mos o us a e mul ilingual . . . The e is a leas one place
on he A ican Con inen o which we ie ou sense o sel . . . Then he e’s
he G8 ci y o wo (o h ee) ha we know like he backs o ou hands, and
he a ious ins i u ions ha know us o amed ocus. We a e A opoli ans:
no ci izens, bu A icans o he wo ld (Selasi n.p.)
Selasi’s choice o wo ds o desc ibe A opoli ans as “cul u al mu s” could be
conside ed o ensi e and demeaning o hose who sha e a simila li e expe ience, aking
in o conside a ion ha i is a g oup o which he au ho is also a pa o . Fu he mo e, i
can be acknowledged ha Selasi c ea es, in a way, a ce ain ca ego y ha is no
uni e sal o all A icans, deducing ha mos A opoli ans unde s and ashion, a e
success ul in ellec uals and belong o a Black eli e.
On he o he hand, Mbembe’s pe spec i e is o be unde s ood on a much deepe
le el. A opoli anism is ela ed wi h how A icans ela e wi h he wo ld, i is a hyb id
iden i y and no me ely a social s a us. Ha ing in o conside a ion bo h o mula ions,
Selasi’s is clea ly a lesse heo y, in ligh o i s na ow-minded and “pe son-cen e ed
emphasis” (Toi anen 193-194). Mbembe’s ision, o ins ance, is based on his o ical
g ounds, designa ing he p ocesses o mobili y and cul u al usion which ha e been
shaping A ican communi ies and iden i ies o cen u ies. Al hough he ques ion o
mobili y is a undamen al piece o bo h app oaches, hey a e ea ed di e en ly. Fo
Selasi, mobili y implies ac ual mo emen and mig a ion om he A ican con inen
which en ails he o ma ion o a diaspo a and hus p omo es a “concep o globaliza ion
ha e ases A icans who li e on he con inen om i s pu iew” (Ogbechie 2008).
Mbembe’s concep o mobili y does no imply physical mo emen away om A ica.
As a ma e o ac , he s a es ha mobili y mus be unde s ood in e ms o imme sion,
41
expe iences we e ad an ageous and allowed he o be a pa o hese mode n A ican
u bani es. Howe e , ying o a oid he same eli is p emise she used in he de ini ion o
A opoli anism, i is ce ain ha no all A opoli ans ha e he same oppo uni ies, bu
ha su ely does no make hem less A opoli an, meaning he only o he main aspec
hey sha e is he ac o mo ing ab oad and he p ocess o adjus men hey a e submi ed
o. Mbembe, o ins ance, s udied in F ance du ing he 80s whe e he ea ned his Ph.D.
om he Pan héon-So bonne Uni e si y
27
. Howe e o una e his li e jou ney may ha e
been, age is an impo an ac o ha dis inguishes him om Taiye Tuakli-Woso nu.
Wi h 20 yea s o age di e ence, Mbembe belongs o a gene a ion which s uggled
di ec ly wi h colonialism. I was in he 70s ha mo emen s o decoloniza ion began o
consolida e and so Mbembe’s local expe ience is also a ec ed by his e e -las ing
ba le. As a esul , his academic jou ney is mainly oo ed in his o ical g ounds in o de
o unde s and o he ness, o anscend acial bo de s and o jus i y he eliance on and
exploi a ion o he Wes . Tha is why his pe spec i e on A opoli anism is so open-
minded and luid in a way ha leads us o unde s and his need o go beyond s a us,
beyond ace, beyond bo de s. I con empla es no only a well-educa ed class bu also
hose who a e ma ginalized, hose who y o a e o ced o ( e)in en hemsel es.
Acco ding o Ryan Skinne
28
in “Why A opoli anism Ma e s” (2017), AbdouMaliq
Simone
29
and Daniel Reed
30
a gue ha he essence o A opoli anism is o:
. . . encou age us o hink wi h and lea n om hose whose global mobili y
is no solely bound o he comme cial, in ellec ual, and aes he ic cul u es
o Eu opean me opoles; a he , i should highligh hose who ou inely
a ge o he si es o socioeconomic and cul u al p ac ice, om diaspo ic
27
Whe e he la e became assis an p o esso a Columbia Uni e si y o a ew yea s. Du ing he 90s, he
e u ned o A ica, i s o Daka and hen o Johannesbu g whe e he lec u es a Wi wa e s and Uni e si y
since 2001.
28
Musical an h opologis who s udies con empo a y A ica and i s diaspo a.
29
U banis and p o esso o sociology.
30
Associa e p o esso a Indiana Uni e si y.

42
encla es in he Uni ed S a es o sou heas Asian en epô s (Reed 2016;
Simone 2010), as well as global c oss oads and ci ies wi hin A ica i sel
(Simone 2004) (Skinne 16)
1.5. A opoli anism in a cosmopoli an se ing
When i comes o he s udy o A ican cosmopoli anism, i is ce ainly an
opposi e concep o he “legacy o he A ican ‘ ibe’ seen as poli ically p imi i e,
ahis o ical and sel -pe pe ua ing, de e minedly local” (Balak ishnan 2-3), which means
e e y hing cosmopoli anism ejec s. These communi ies emain cul u ally immu able;
hei cha ac e is ics passed on om one gene a ion o he o he . Howe e endu ing hey
may be, A ica is well-known o i s mul ie hnici y, aking o example ci ies like
Daka , Nai obi o Johannesbu g, ha we e molded by u baniza ion, mig a ion and
globaliza ion. Acco ding o Balak ishnan, he ea ly 21s cen u y was ma ked by he
“cosmopoli an u n” (Balak ishnan 4-5), in which an h opologis s and philosophe s
sha ed di e en pe spec i es on he de ini ion o cosmopoli anism. While
an h opologis s such as A jun Appadu ai o Ul Hanne z s a ed ha mul i acial
communi ies, enhanced by globaliza ion, led o an ine i able uni e salism,
philosophe s, du ing he 1990s, conside ed globaliza ion o be he means o achie e a
“ ue cosmopoli an e hics, an e hic o esponsibili y ha did no dis inguish be ween
people o one’s own na ion and hose om ano he ” (Balak ishnan 4-5).
O e he las decades, pos colonial w i e s o he A ican diaspo a ha e ied o
es ablish a connec ion be ween mig a ion and cosmopoli anism and e e y hing i
implies such as he hyb idiza ion and mul iplici y o iden i ies and cul u es. Howe e , a
common dilemma has been aised conce ning he in e sec ion o diaspo a and
cosmopoli anism in which diaspo a has been conside ed ei he “inhe en ly
cosmopoli an” (Dha wadke 125) o “in insically an icosmopoli an” (Dha wadke
125). Acco ding o Du Bois, a diaspo ic iden i y o en deals wi h a double
43
consciousness, a cons an eeling o belonging o mo e han one place and a ea o
elinquishing ei he one, he homeland o he new home. The e o e, his kind o iden i y
would be classi ied nowadays as hyb id. Taking o example he A ican Ame ican, Du
Bois explains ha his double consciousness means “he would no A icanize Ame ica”
and ha “he would no bleach his Neg o soul in a lood o whi e Ame icanism (…) He
simply wishes o make i possible o a man o be bo h a Neg o and an Ame ican” (Du
Bois 9) and, he e o e, s and i mly be ween wo cul u es.
Ano he impo an concep ha bo h diaspo a and cosmopoli anism can be
ela ed o is mobili y which has become a ecu en heme in cul u al s udies. The 21s
cen u y has been cha ac e ized so a wi h la ge-scale mo emen s o people a ound he
globe, be i ou is s, s uden s, mig an s, wo ke s and so on. These in e sec ing mobili ies
ha e c ea ed, h ough globaliza ion, a wide ne wo k o social and cul u al li es, hus
es ablishing a communi y o “ci izens o he wo ld” o “cosmopoli ans” whose loyal y
o he homeland is equen ly ques ioned due o he oo lessness supposedly inhe en o
hem. The e m de e i o ializa ion can also be associa ed wi h hese eelings o
belonging o mo e han one place, howe e ela i e hey migh be due o coun less
di e en expe iences o mig ancy oday. Kwame An hony Appiah, o ins ance, a gues
ha wo isions o cosmopoli anism a e possible: a oo ed cosmopoli anism o
cosmopoli an pa io ism. Rega ding he la e , he philosophe a gues ha he
cosmopoli an pa io “can en e ain he possibili y o a wo ld in which e e yone is a
oo ed cosmopoli an, a ached o a home o his o he own, wi h i s own cul u al
pa icula i ies, bu aking pleasu e om he p esence o o he , di e en , places ha a e
home o o he , di e en , people” (Appiah 618).
44
In Cosmopoli anism: e hics in a wo ld o s ange s (2006), Appiah explains how
cosmopoli anism is di icul o dis ega d, due o he “global ibe” we li e in oday
(Appiah 13). He s a s by con ex ualizing he e m, which da es back:
. . . o he Cynics o he ou h cen u y B.C., who i s coined he
exp ession cosmopoli an, "ci izen o he cosmos". The o mula ion was
mean o be pa adoxical, and e lec ed he gene al Cynic skep icism
owa d cus om and adi ion. A ci izen - a poli e - belonged o a pa icula
polis, a ci y o which he o she owed loyal y. The cosmos e e ed o he
wo ld, no in he sense o he ea h, bu in he sense o he uni e se. Talk
o cosmopoli anism, o iginally signaled, hen, a ejec ion o he
con en ional iew ha e e y ci ilized pe son belonged o a communi y
among communi ies. (Appiah 11)
In a way, e e y single indi idual belongs o he cosmos, a bigge communi y
which comes i s han all hose o he communi ies ca e ully and dis inc ly ou lined
om one ano he . Howe e , “cosmopoli anism isn’ ha d wo k; epudia ing i is”
(Appiah 25). Today, his e m has gained o he meanings which a e bes sui ed o he
wo ld’s cu en si ua ion. Acco ding o he schola , he “global ibe” (Appiah 10) we
li e in has, in ac , weakened some o he cul u al bo de s ha ha e exis ed o
cen u ies. The phenomenon ha is globaliza ion poses a clea h ea o hose bo de s,
since i p omo es homogenei y. Howe e , Appiah does no conside his o be a o al
disad an age, a leas o Thi d Wo ld coun ies ha ha e de eloped g ea ly o wha
conce ns heal h, educa ion o basic li e condi ions. “So why do people in hese places
some imes eel ha hei iden i y is h ea ened? Because he wo ld, hei wo ld, is
changing, and some o hem don' like i .” (Appiah 171-172). He gi es his own pe sonal
expe ience, as a man who has g own up in Ghana bu has no li ed he e o mo e han
hi y yea s. Du Bois’ concep o double consciousness comes o mind once mo e.
Like many, I e u n he e om ime o ime, o isi amily and iends.
And, again like many, when I am he e I eel bo h ha I do and ha I don'
belong. A momen s like he one a he palace, I know wha is happening,
and people know who I am. So, in one sense, I i in. No hing su p ises me.
45
I know how o beha e. On he o he hand, he e a e hings in Kumasi ha
emind me cons an ly ha his is no longe whe e I li e. I ind I am
i i a ed, o example, by he slow pace o hings, by he un eliabili y o
se ices. (Appiah 155-156)
O e all, Appiah seems o imply ha i is okay o no s ay in he homeland and
ha he na u al and ine i able ci cula ion o people will e en ually lead o mig a ion. In
he pas , hese mig a o y lows we e “deplo ed” (Appiah 618) because hey we e o en
in olun a y “bu wha can be ha e ul, can be celeb a ed when i lows om he ee
decisions o indi iduals o o g oups” (Appiah 618).
In A ican s udies, he in e es in cosmopoli anism began wi h se e al schola s
such as Appiah, Achille Mbembe, Wal e Mignolo, Homi Bhabha and many o he s who
began analyzing and c ea ing a new A ican e hics o globaliza ion and ansna ional
mig a ion. The e o e, h ough Selasi and Mbembe, A opoli anism became a use ul
concep o schola s o explain nume ous phenomenona such as A icans becoming
ci izens o he wo ld and A ican cul u es and e hnici ies me ging wi h many o he s
om a ound he globe in an A ican me opolis. Acco ding o Balak ishnan, howe e
ad an ageous hese new phenomena migh be o he con inen , all cosmopoli an ci ies
in A ica ca y a hea y backg ound o su e ing om colonial ule. Acco ding o
Geh mann, “A opoli anism can be desc ibed as a o m o cosmopoli anism wi h
A ican oo s” (Geh mann 1), o which mobili y is one o i s key concep s. A no ion o
cons an mo emen which can be ei he physical o digi al (ac oss he cybe space)
which s ongly cha ac e izes he A opoli ans’ way o li e. Howe e , i is a ac ha
many A icans who a e ca ego ized as A opoli ans do no accep his desc ip o . Emma
Dabi i, o example, who conside s A opoli anism o be a commodi y, s a es ha he
li e expe iences quali y he as he ul ima e s e eo ype o wha an A opoli an should be,
as i he e we e ce ain equi emen s one mus possess. Al hough Dabi i’s poli ical
46
s a emen is simila o Minna Salami’s pe sona, MsA opoli an, in he cybe space, he
la e conside s he neologism o be an e olu ion om A opessimism, as she clea ly
s a es in “Can A icans ha e mul iple subcul u es? A esponse o “Exo cising
A opoli anism” (2013). Dabi i, on he o he hand, in “Why I’m no an A opoli an”
(2014) w i es ha :
The dange o A opoli anism becoming he oice o A ica can be linked
o he c i icisms le elled agains second wa e eminis s who ailed o
iden i y hei p i ilege as whi e and middle class while claiming o speak
o all women. Because while we may all be A icans, he e is a huge gap
be ween my A ican expe ience and my a he ’s houseboys. […] The
p oblem is no ha A opoli ans a e p i ileged pe se – a he i is ha a a
ime when po e y emains endemic o millions, he na a i es o a
p i ileged ew elling us how g ea e e y hing is, how much oppo uni y
and po en ial is a ailable may d own ou he oices o a majo i y who
emain denied basic li e chances. (Dabi i 2014)
The ecu en ep oaches owa ds A opoli anism su ace once mo e, namely i s
commodi y and eli ism.
Appiah’s Cosmopoli anism: e hics in a wo ld o s ange s (2006) almos
coincides wi h he eme gence o A opoli anism and wi h how Appiah ew i es
cosmopoli anism. His idea o a ue cosmopoli an desc ibes someone who espec s
plu alism, who has an inna e cu iosi y and a capaci y o adap ac oss cul u es. All hese
i ues a e also impo an componen s o A opoli anism, e en hose which a e no
pe cei ed as a i ue, such as he cosmopoli ans’ lack o s illness which is o en
pe cei ed as an eli is ype o a elling. Howe e simila hese wo concep s migh be,
Taiye Selasi is able o dis inguish he A opoli an om a cosmopoli an o he sole
eason ha he o me has a connec ion o i s oo s ha canno easily ade.
Wha dis inguishes his lo (in he Wes and a home) is a willingness o
complica e A ica – namely, o engage wi h, c i ique, and celeb a e he
pa s o A ica ha mean mos o hem. Pe haps wha mos ypi ies he
A opoli an consciousness is he e usal o o e simpli y; he e o o
unde s and wha is ailing in A ica alongside he desi e o hono wha is

47
wonde ul, unique. Ra he han essen ializing he geog aphical en i y, we
seek o comp ehend he cul u al complexi y; o hono he in ellec ual and
spi i ual legacy; and o sus ain ou pa en s’ cul u es. (Selasi n.p.)
1.6. A opoli anism and he Black Bildungs oman: he jou ney o li e in A ican
and A ican Ame ican ic ion
Taking in o conside a ion ha he no els ha will be analyzed p esen wo
dis inc p ocesses o ma u a ion and s o ies o becoming, i is impo an o discuss he
di e ences be ween he coming-o -age no els ha we e in luenced by he Ge man
Bildungs oman and he con empo a y na a i es ha ha e g own apa om adi ion.
On he second hal o he 18 h cen u y, a new subgen e o he no el eme ged, he
Bildungs oman, ocused on he p ocess o change, ei he physical, psychological, o
mo al, o he main cha ac e . This e m was coined by Ka l on Mo gens e n (1770-
1852), in 1810, du ing a lec u e called Uebe das Wesen des Bildungs oman
31
(1819).
Howe e , i is belie ed ha Wilhelm Dil hey was he one ha in oduced his neologism
o he in ellec ual discou se in his biog aphy o F ied ich Schleie mache , Leben
Schleie mache s (1870), due o he ac ha his s udies we e mo e in luen ial in he
academia. In his biog aphy, Dil hey classi ied as Bildung he no els ha ag eed wi h a
adi ion ha s a ed wi h Goe he’s Wilhelm Meis e ’s App en iceship o Wilhelm
Meis e s Leh jah e
32
(1777-1785) which old he s o y o a young man:
“who en e s in o li e in a bliss ul s a e o igno ance, seeks ela ed souls,
expe iences iendship and lo e, s uggles wi h he ha d eali ies o he
wo ld and hus a med wi h a a ie y o expe iences, ma u es, inds himsel
and his mission in he wo ld” (q d. Ha din 14)
31
This ansla es o “On he Na u e o he Bildungs oman”.
32
The s o y o Wilhelm Meis e is di ided in o eigh books.
48
Dil hey ag eed ha Goe he’s no el was a “legi ima e cou se” (Dil hey n.p.) o a
he o’s de elopmen hus ecommending i o young eade s who we e in need o
guidance and eassu ance abou eaching adul hood.
The e o e, acco ding o Dil hey, he gen e desc ibed he de elopmen o he
he o’s li e h ough all phases, aking in o conside a ion ha hese we e equen ly
obs acles and con lic s he cha ac e should o e come in o de o e ol e and ma u e
ha moniously. This gen e p io i ized he he o’s o ma ion which esul ed om his
in e ac ion wi h he wo ld, o he in e ela ion be ween social and psychological o ces
which de e mined he di ec ion o his sel -de elopmen . This ela ion be ween he sel
and socie y was e ealed no by epo ing e e y aspec o he cha ac e ’s li e, bu by
e en s and expe iences which had a pa icula in luence in his o ma ion, since
acco ding o Jos :
. . . in he ad en u e no el, e en s es , punish, o ewa d he he o; in he
app en iceship no el, hey ma k him, ma u e him, o o m him in a de ini e
way, and inally c ys allize his cha ac e . . . The gen e, he e o e, mus be
de ined as he ep esen a ion o he in e ac ion be ween he sel and he
wo ld, wi h special e e ence o he p esence o he educa ion o he sel .
(Jos 136)
In acco dance wi h his de ini ion, Bildungs oman is pe cei ed as a s o y o
o ma ion o a cha ac e up o he momen when he ceases o be sel -cen e ed and
becomes socie y-cen e ed, hus beginning o shape his ue sel .
Mo gens e n, in addi ion, emphasized i s educa ional unc ion o bo h he he o
and he eade by asse ing ha “i ep esen s he beginning o he he o’s Bildung and
his de elopmen o a ce ain phase o p og ess, bu also because ha same
ep esen a ion p omo es spi i ual-es he ical Bildung o he eade like no o he no el
gen e” (Mo gens e n, 15-16). I is impo an o cla i y ha wha was impo an in his
subgen e was no he g owing-up p ocess bu a he he ma u ing one, which means he
49
he o’s Bildung was mos ly a quali a i e a he han a quan i a i e p ocess. Among
Ge man schola s he e was much deba e abou wha p ecisely cons i u ed a
Bildungs oman and hey we e unable o each a consensus on he meaning o he e m.
I is in ac a concep ha has been p one o misunde s andings due o i s se e al
meanings in Ge man.
Fo ins ance, Bildung can be in e p e ed as a de elopmen al p ocess and also as
a collec i e name o he cul u al and spi i ual alues o a speci ic people o social
s a um in a gi en his o ical epoch and “by ex ension he achie emen o lea ning ha
same body o knowledge and accep ance o he alue sys em i implies” (Ha din 11-12).
The e o e, he ansla ion om one language o ano he can be a p oblem, since “any
gene aliza ion abou he ‘Bildungs oman’ as a gen e is ap o be bede iled by he
a ian meaning o he wo d ‘Bildung’ in Ge man” (Wi e 87). Schola s such as Meli a
ha e also a emp ed o demons a e how he e m Bildungs oman was closely ela ed o
o he simila e ms. In De deu sche En wicklungs oman bis zu Goe hes "Wilhelm
Meis e "
33
(1926), she claimed ha a e y simila e m was En wicklungs oman o
no el o de elopmen . Compa ed o he o me , i has a wide scope o meaning which
cha ac e izes no els ha essen ially po ay he con on a ion o he main cha ac e wi h
his su oundings and he consequen p ocess o ma u a ion, mainly spi i ual and
psychological, which was a esul o he he o’s e lec ion on his li e expe iences.
Ano he e m closely ela ed o Bildungs oman was E ziehungs oman o pedagogical
no el, a mo e didac ic gen e which, h ough a simila p ocess o ma u a ion, was
conce ned wi h he he o’s acquisi ion o new alues and lessons by he end o his li e
jou ney, al hough bo h ypes did no in end o each ha goal bu a he ob ain he
cha ac e ’s mo al g ow h. Bildungs oman lied be ween hese concep s “no as na owly
33
This ansla es o The Ge man de elopmen no el up o Goe he's "Wilhelm Meis e ".
50
pedagogic as he one . . . and no so me ely ansi ional as he o he – being abou he
ea ly childhood- o-young-adul hood s ages o li e” (Je e s 49). In his ega d, i is
e iden ha he e is no uni y and consensus in he employmen o he e m.
Ou side he Ge man in ellec ual sphe e, o he na ional and cul u al a ian s o
he Bildungs oman eme ged wi h ime, based on di e en social and his o ical ac o s.
A e Bildung was concei ed in he la e 18 h cen u y, he English and Ame ican li e a y
discou se also adop ed he concep , al hough hey sus ained i in di e en ways.
Ini ially, he e m was no de ised as a Eu opean ype o no el, bu a he laid claim o a
Ge man adi ion wi h philosophical oo s in he Classical Roman ic age o
Humani ä sphilosophie (Philosophy o Humani y). While Ge man w i e s such as
Goe he and F ied ich Schille ocused on he he o’s cul i a ion ega dless o he
“ esponsibili y o he na ional cul u e” (Je e s 35), English w i e s such as Thomas
Ca lyle
34
, John S ua Mill
35
, Ma hew A nold
36
, and Wal e Pa e
37
belie ed ha he
p ocess o cul i a ion depended no only on he sel bu wi h his su oundings and wi h
whome e he sha ed a social en i onmen .
The Ame ican Bildungs oman was se u he apa om hese wo a ian s.
This ype o no el eme ges as being independen om he Eu opean adi ion and being
s ongly cha ac e ized by indi idualism and o iginali y. The Ame ican a ian does no
ocus on an op imis ic and success ul p ocess o de elopmen , bu a he p esen s an
inclina ion o c i icize socie y and he na ion, gi en he ac ha he young p o agonis s’
“disquie abou g owing up and he disillusionmen ha o en esul s om hei jou ney
34
Goe he’s in luence on Ca lyle was isible in his ansla ion o Wilhelm Meis e 's App en iceship in o
English, in 1824, o wi h his no el Sa o Resa us (1833-34).
35
John S ua Mill heo izes he p ocess o o ma ion o he sel in his philosophical essay On Libe y
(1859).
36
Ma hew A nold analyzes his concep in Cul u e and Ana chy (1869).
37
The concep o Bildung is e iden in Pa e ’s “The Child in he House” (1845).
57
II. Ame icanah: a ma u i y s o y dissec ing he ques ion o ace in he US
2.1. In oduc ion
This chap e discusses Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s no el Ame icanah and i s
a ious hemes namely mig a ion, iden i y, o he ness, acism, e c. I also ques ions
whe he his no el may be conside ed an A opoli an na a i e, conside ing he
impo ance o his new gene a ion o A icans which is inc easing oday in a globalized
e a and has become undamen al o discussions abou A ican iden i y.
Adichie’s no el will be analyzed in de ail by ch onicling I emelu’s li e
expe ience in he Uni ed S a es and analyzing he p ocess o ans o ma ion and how i
in e sec s wi h some issues, namely Blackness, o eignness, ace and gende . Also,
unde s anding his p ocess will show how mig a ion na a i es such as his one expose
Ame ican s e eo ypes o A icans and A ican Ame icans h ough a “dis inc i ely
Nige ian i e a ion o middle-class mobili y” (Hallemeie 235) and he na iga ions o
sel hood ha come h ough acing i . Ame icanah is cons uc ed as a hi d pe son
na a i e which is di ided in o chap e s wi h he pe spec i es o bo h main cha ac e s,
I emelu and Obinze. In addi ion, he no el also wo ks on di e en le els o discou se,
such as he ic ional one cons uc ed by he na a o , he discou se o he own
p o agonis while ch onicling pas expe iences and, las ly, he discou se o I emelu’s
blog en ies, in which he eade may connec e en mo e wi h he cha ac e .
Following he analysis o he p o agonis ’s li e jou ney and lea ning p ocesses,
he deba e will concen a e on whe he his no el may be conside ed an A opoli an
na a i e and how does he cons uc ion o I emelu’s na a i e pe cei es and
decons uc s his concep .

58
2.2. Ame icanah: ch onicles o an A ican Black woman in he Wes
In he la e 20 h cen u y, social and economic changes ha a ec ed all na ions
opened he on ie s ha we e se by an impe ialis and bina y ision o he wo ld. A
ision which has now been agmen ed and ans o med in o mul icul u alism. In his
con ex , i is impo an o ecognize ha he p ocess o decoloniza ion om he
Eu opean dominion demanded o be analyzed by s udying he colonial pe iod and i s
consequences in he pos colonial e a, such as a majo mig a o y low o A icans o he
Uni ed S a es. Unlike p e ious mig a ions o A ican people o Ame ica, hese
happened olun a ily, due o he ac ha mos immig an s we e in sea ch o a be e
job, a be e educa ion, a be e li e o e all. The wo ld was no uled by poli ical
empi es anymo e, and hese o me colonies we e inally independen . Subsequen ly, in
he nex cen u y, he e would ce ainly be a ocus on analyzing he new expe iences o
hese A ican mig an s, ans o ming he modes o Immig an Na a i es and E hnic o
Pos colonial Li e a u e. A a Land y s a es exac ly his idea o a new A ican mig a ion.
While o eign black mig a ion has occu ed h oughou his o y, signi ican
olun a y A ican immig a ion is a ela i ely new phenomenon, one ha
did no ha e a signi ican impac un il he mid-1970s (Ande son,
“A ican”). Economic c ises, na u al disas e s, ci il wa s, co up ion,
au ho i a ian go e nmen s, and mili a y coups all p omp ed mass A ican
immig a ion in o he Uni ed S a es (Johnson 81). Due o hese condi ions,
i is impo an o quali y he e m “ olun a y” mig a ion, which, in he
con ex o his a gumen , e e s o pos colonial A ican mig a ion ou side
o he ansa lan ic sla e ade. (Land y 130)
The e o e, con empo a y A ican li e a u e po ays he eali ies o A ican
w i e s h ough a ious o ms, such as diaspo a, o he ness, displacemen , exile o
iden i y. These ic ions ha e su e ed a de e i o ializa ion since hey ha e been w i en
no only inside bu ou side he con inen and he au ho s hemsel es a e a esul o
anscul u alism. The e o e, hei goal is o expose and analyze he global ci y in which
we li e in and he challenges immig an s ace. One o he no els ha explo es he idea
59
o complex o he ness is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s
40
Ame icanah (2013), a no el
ha o e s insigh on cul u al opposi ions, on he sel and i s ques o iden i y,
demons a ing a he same ime how A ican immig an s de ine ha same iden i y in a
space whe e mig an s a e ma ginalized.
Recen li e a y c i icism has conside ed Adichie a membe o he hi d
gene a ion o Nige ian w i e s, a gene a ion conce ned wi h “nomadism, exile,
displacemen , and de acina ion” (Adesanmi and Dun on 16). This new gene a ion o
Nige ian w i e s ep esen s he A ican con inen and i s local and cosmopoli an li e
mainly o Wes e n consump ion. Fo Sand a Ponzanesi, his phenomenon is a global
ma ke ing s a egy o exo icism whe e “w i e s become ‘b and names’ con ibu ing o a
cosmopoli an cul u e o dis inc ion, h ough which he consump ion o pos colonial
p oduc s is no jus a sign o exo icism bu also o wo ldliness and in e cul u al
sophis ica ion” (Ponzanesi 4).
Un il he 60s, Nige ia was a domain o he B i ish empi e. A e i s
independence, i mos ly became a democ a ic coun y al hough he e ha e been mili a y
coups. Du ing he 1980s and 1990s Nige ia was one o he coun ies a ec ed by he
mig a o y low men ioned ea lie , heading mos ly owa ds he Wes . Ame icanah’s
heme essen ially po ays his con empo a y mig a ion h ough he s o y o i s emale
p o agonis I emelu
41
and o he childhood swee hea , Obinze, and o he Nige ians who
40
Be o e Ame icanah, Adichie was al eady conside ed a p omising Nige ian w i e . Adichie decided o
a end college and g adua e in he U.S. which means she has ollowed a di e en pa h om o he au ho s
who ha e de eloped hei ca ee in Nige ia. He ca ee began a a young age, being awa ded he O. Hen y
P ize in 2003. Pu ple Hibiscus (2003), he i s no el, was amongs he nominees o he O ange P ize o
Fic ion and o he Booke P ize. In 2007, she won he O ange wi h he second no el, Hal o a Yellow
Sun.
41
The name o he cha ac e may some imes be sho ened o I em which is cu en ly used h oughou he
no el.
60
we e in despe a e need o mo e choices han hose Nige ia o e ed in he 90s in an
a emp o escape “ he opp essi e le ha gy o choicelessness” (Adichie 276).
The wo main cha ac e s, I emelu and Obinze, bo h sha ed a simila backg ound;
hey we e bo n in Lagos, came om middle-class u ban amilies and we e well
educa ed. Thei backg ound al eady sugges ed an in es men on A opoli anism, a leas
o wha conce ned hei educa ion. Howe e , as bo h cha ac e s ge sepa a ed and lead
comple ely di e en li es, hei p ocess o ma u a ion and lea ning also di e ge en i ely.
The e o e, he objec i e is o analyze hese p ocesses, ocusing mainly on I em’s
na a i e bu also con as ing i wi h Obinze’s and unde s anding he “di e en ways o
being black, ha is, [ he many] pe mu a ions o blackness” (Adichie n.p.).
A a ime when Nige ia was unde a dic a o ship ule, many Nige ians ied o
lee he coun y and I emelu and Obinze we e no excep ion, especially because hey
we e being dep i ed o access o educa ion. Al hough he young couple decided o
mo e o he Uni ed S a es o a end college, only I emelu managed o ge a s uden isa
while Obinze was denied o one. Despi e p omising o euni e wi h he in Ame ica,
Obinze was ne e able o ge he e and e en ually mig a ed o he Uni ed Kingdom
whe e his isa expi ed and he became an illegal immig an . As I emelu lea ned how o
be a Black A ican woman in he US, she dis anced he sel om home and
consequen ly om Obinze. Almos a decade la e , I emelu decided o go back o
Nige ia and ealized she was no he same pe son as she was when she had le . She
ied o e i e he ela ionship wi h Obinze who had e u ned o Lagos many yea s
be o e and had become a weal hy businessman. Despi e he ac ha hey had gone
h ough di e en expe iences and lea ning p ocesses du ing so many yea s apa , he
o me couple el hey s ill sha ed some pa o hei iden i y, un ouched by hei li es
ab oad.
61
2.2.1. Lea ning o be Black
As I em mo ed o he US a he age o 18
42
she ins an ly ealized she would
ha e o deal wi h se e al issues es ablished mainly o being a Black woman in a
dominan pa ia chal whi e socie y: “I came om a coun y whe e ace was no an issue;
I did no hink o mysel as black and I only became black when I came o Ame ica”
(Adichie 290).
In Racial Fo ma ion in he Uni ed S a es (2015), Michael Omi and Howa d
Winan de ine ace as a “concep ha signi ies and symbolizes social con lic s and
in e es s by e e ing o di e en ypes o human bodies” (Omi and Winan 110), hus
“ ace-making can also be unde s ood as a p ocess o ‘o he ing’ . . . Classi ying people
as o he and making use o a ious pe cei ed a ibu es in o de o do so is a uni e sal
phenomenon ha also classi ies hose who do he classi ying” (Omi and Winan 105).
As p e iously men ioned, Adichie’s no el analyses he cons uc ion o wha
Land y calls an “e hnicized O he ” (Land y 127). As A ican immig an s a i e o
Ame ica o any o he coun y hey mus lea n how o deal wi h he label “Black”, a
o eign concep o hem which “is no uni e sal, bu ins ead is his o ically si ua ed and
cul u ally cons uc ed, some hing always imposed on hem by ex e nal o ces”
(McMann 201), hus es ablishing an ini ial cul u al shock.
Kale o Obe g, in “Cul u al Shock: Adjus men s o New Cul u al
En i onmen s” (1960), s udies how he p ocess o adjus men o A ican immig an s
comes in di e en s ages: ou is /honeymoon, esis ance, dissonance, and accep ance
(Obe g 178). The i s s age is ypically sho because A icans become awa e o wha
Blackness means and whe e is hei place wi hin he US acial sys em. A e he
ou is /honeymoon s age, acco ding o Obe g, immig an s who s ay pe manen ly o o
42
Taking in o conside a ion ha I emelu mo es o US o s udy a a uni e si y i may be assumed ha she
mus be a ound 18 yea s old.
62
long pe iods o ime go h ough a new phase ha implies eelings o denial and
hos ili y. As ime goes by, immig an s s a o ealize ha he hos coun y is no iceably
di e en han he mo he land, especially as hey a e almos compelled o assume a
comple ely new and o eign acial iden i y due o hei skin colo wi hou unde s anding
he cul u al and his o ical backg ound ha has led o such social ca ego ies. Las ly,
Obe g e e s o a hi d and inal s age which is cha ac e ized by “dissonance” (Obe g
178). As he p ocess o cul u al adap a ion is a a much mo e ad anced s a e,
immig an s begin o econnec wi h some adi ions and cul u al p ac ices o hei
homeland while a he same ime unde aluing he social p ac ices o he hos coun y.
Applying Obe g’s scheme o Ame icanah one may a gue i I emelu goes h ough all
hese s ages.
Ini ially, he i s s age is ep esen ed h ough some ini ial inciden s and
expe iences o acial disc imina ion, which can be dis inguished by a ious o ms based
on ace, gende , language, in e acial ela ionships, e c. Language is he i s kind o
disc imina ion she encoun e s. As a o eign unde g adua e s uden , I em wen on he
i s day o he uni e si y’s adminis a ion o ice and he gi l she alked o s a ed
speaking e y slowly o he as i I em did no unde s and English a all. When she
explained o he , in a e y eloquen manne , ha she did unde s and he English, I em
was aken by su p ise by he woman’s eac ion.
‘I speak English,’ she said. ‘I be you do,’ C is ina Tomas said. ‘I jus
don’ know how well.’ I emelu sh ank. In ha s ained, s ill second when
he eyes me C is ina Toma’s be o e she ook he o ms, she sh ank. She
sh ank like a d ied lea . She had spoken English all he li e, led he
deba ing socie y in seconda y school, and always hough he Ame ican
wang inchoa e; she should no ha e cowe ed and sh unk, bu she did. And
in he ollowing weeks, as au umn’s coolness descended, she began o
p ac ice an Ame ican accen (Adichie 133-134)
This i s inciden made I em wan o ejec all she had lea ned in o de o adap
in o Ame ican s anda ds, hus eeling compelled o change he accen o a genuine

63
Ame ican one which ini ia es he p ocess o assimila ion. This scene p o es how
language “becomes acialized and based on one’s na ional iden i y; language is a
ma ke o di e ence signi ying one’s ou side s a us, and changes in one’s language a e
indica i e o changes o onesel ” (Taylo 74). Th ee yea s la e , she had al eady
pe ec ed i and du ing a phone call wi h a elema ke e I em is cong a ula ed on he
accen which made he eel con lic ed and ashamed.
Only a e she hung up did she begin o eel he s ain o a bu geoning
shame sp eading all o e he , o hanking him, o c a ing his wo ds
“You sound Ame ican” in o a ga land ha she hung a ound he neck. Why
was i a complimen , an accomplishmen , o sound Ame ican? (Adichie
175)
This inciden ma ks he s age o denial Obe g alks abou , as I em el con used
and ashamed o ha complimen which mean he p ocess o cul u al assimila ion was
being success ul. The e o e, I em decides o e u n o he na i e accen .
Ano he inciden conce ning language is ela ed o I em’s ini ial unawa eness o
acis and o ensi e exp essions and how hey a e ca e ully a e ed in Ame ican socie y.
Du ing a class, in which he mo ie Roo s
43
was playing, an A ican Ame ican s uden
ques ioned why he wo d “nigge ” had been censo ed h oughou he en i e mo ie.
Du ing he class deba e, I emelu emembe ed ha she had al eady wa ched i in Nige ia,
a Obinze’s house, and ecalled how his mo he had le he oom c ying and how “she
had el lacking, wa ching Obinze’s mo he , and wishing ha she, oo, could c y”
(Adichie 137). In esponse o he s uden ’s s a emen , I emelu in e ened: “I don’ hink
i ’s always hu ul. I hink i depends on he in en and also on who is using i ” (Adichie
138).
43
This mo ie ells he s o y o Kun a Kin e, who was aken om his home, Gambia, a he age o
se en een and sold as a sla e. The plo also ells he s o y o se en gene a ions o Kin e’s descendan s in
Ame ica.
64
A his poin in he no el, I emelu did no unde s and how being Black in
Ame ica had meaning and how A ican Ame icans ca ied he weigh o a pas she had
ne e known. None heless, u he in he s o y, I emelu ealizes how A icans ha e o
bea ha same weigh when hey come o Ame ica in a ges u e o soli ude. This ime
I em has al eady lea ned how language can igge a ce ain beha io ha should be
expec ed om all Black communi y.
And he e’s he deal wi h becoming black: You mus show ha you a e
o ended when such wo ds as “wa e melon” o “ a baby” a e used in
jokes, e en i you don’ know wha he hell is being alked abou —and
since you a e a Non-Ame ican Black, he chances a e ha you won’
know. (In unde g ad a whi e classma e asks i I like wa e melon, I say yes,
and ano he classma e says, Oh my God ha is so acis , and I’m con used.
“Wai , how?”) (Adichie 220)
Inciden s such as hese clea ly show ha “e en when he no el is no alking
abou ace, he con e sa ion is always ci cula ing a ound he acialized iden i ies o he
cha ac e s” (McMann 210).
Ano he one o I emelu’s ini ial s uggles conce ns he di icul inancial
si ua ion by no being able o ind a job since he in e na ional s uden isa did no allow
o s uden s o wo k besides wo k-s udy on campus. Be ween paying he ui ion and he
en , I emelu ied applying o be a wai ess, a babysi e , a housekeepe bu wi h no
success o mon hs. She s a ed o eel us a ed and did no unde s and wha she could
be doing w ong. As Hislop igh ly claims:
Wha is so c ushing o I emelu o accep is ha he e is no eason o he
no o ha e a job, a leas no eason ha she can imagine . . . Mos o he
expe iences o unemploymen could be ma kedly imp o ed i she we e a
ci izen. As a ci izen, I emelu would ha e mo e con ol o e he op ions.
(Hislop 13)
I emelu applied o such jobs only because hey egula ly paid in cash and made
i di icul o employe s o ge caugh o hi ing undocumen ed immig an s. The e o e,
“ he e is a se e e domino e ec be ween I emelu’s emo ional s a e, he unemploymen ,
65
and he ci izenship s a us” (Hislop 13). E en ually, I em’s iend Ginika, who was also
om Nige ia bu had mig a ed o he US yea s be o e, managed o ind he a job as a
babysi e o a weal hy whi e amily.
I is a his poin ha I emelu s a s a ela ionship wi h he employe ’s b o he ,
Cu , a young and success ul whi e man, who helps he ge a g een ca d and allows he
o inally each inancial and emo ional s abili y. I is his momen in he li e ha she is
mos assimila ed in o Ame ican cul u e.
He laugh was so ib an , shoulde s shaking, ches hea ing, i was he
laugh o a woman who, when she laughed, eally laughed. Some imes
when hey we e alone and she laughed, he would say easingly ‘Tha ’s
wha go me’ (Adichie 191)
Wi h Cu , I emelu el she had anscended ei he cul u ally and socially and el
“she became, in he mind, a woman ee o kno s and ca es” (Adichie 196). She had a
new iden i y and had “slipped ou o he old skin” (Adichie 200), lea ing behind a li e
o auma. Cu did in ac help I emelu in many aspec s, namely by helping he ind a
job in public ela ions which helped he ge a g een ca d. I em’s ela ionship wi h his
man was mos ly cha ac e ized by his almos epellen op imism ha equen ly oubled
he : “The e was some hing in him, ligh e han ego bu da ke han insecu i y ha
needed cons an bu ing, polishing, waxing” (Adichie 207). Cu ’s pe sonali y began
hu ing I emelu because despi e no p e ending “ ha being black and being whi e we e
he same in Ame ica” (Adichie 291), he was “comple ely one-dea ” (Adichie 291) o
he daily inciden s wi h acism, hus ini ia ing “an awakening o so s in I emelu o he
blackness as she now na iga es he Ame ican wo ld as a black woman” (Hislop 18).
Al hough his in e acial ela ionship appea ed o be pe ec a he s a since she
inally was economically s able and was socially in eg a ed, I emelu s a ed o ealize
she had e y li le independence and ha Cu saw he as an accesso y and an exo ic
ad en u e. A one poin , she chea ed on Cu and con essed o him she had had an
66
impulsi e one-nigh s and and he was disgus ed wi h he ac ha she had been wi h a
Whi e man, as i he man had been Black i would no ha e posed a h ea o him.
Du ing an e-mail exchange wi h a colleague om uni e si y, Wambui, a young Kenyan
woman and someone I emelu looked up o, she ga e he idea ha I em should c ea e a
blog: “This is so aw and ue. Mo e people should ead.” (Adichie 295). The e o e,
I emelu ook ad an age o he hough s abou Cu and c ea ed a blog en i led
“Race een h, o Va ious Obse a ions Abou Ame ican Blacks (Those Fo me ly Known
as Neg oes) By a Non-Ame ican Black” o sha e he pain, ease he loneliness and gi e
oice o some s ong poli ical and social s a emen s. The ac ha he blog coincides
wi h I em’s b eakup, a c ucial momen o acial awa eness, means ha he blog is he
elabo a ion o ha same awa eness. I emelu’s i s pos o e s he “simples solu ion o
he p oblem o ace in Ame ica: Roman ic lo e” (Adichie 296). Acco ding o he ,
because “Ame ican socie y is se up o make i [ oman ic lo e] e en a e be ween
Ame ican Black and Ame ican Whi e, he p oblem o ace in Ame ica will ne e be
sol ed” (Adichie 296).
O e all, hese blog pos s de elop in o ch onicles o daily acis inciden s, ei he
expe ienced o wi nessed by I emelu which “se e as a kind o na a i e up u e, se
apa om he es o he ex ” (McMann 209). She launched he blog anonymously o
c ea e a sa e space o sha ing. The p esen a ion o hese pos s changes h oughou he
no el, gaining mo e and mo e impo ance. Th oughou he na a i e, he blog is only
sligh ly men ioned bu as he plo p og esses i ge s sepa a ed om he no mal ex and
begins appea ing wi h a di e en layou and on . Al hough I em wan ed he blog o be
a space o cul u al deba e and o exp ess and sha e opinions she was unable o add ess
publicly as he sel soon she lea ned ha he in e ne could also be a space o insul s
73
wished o . A anged ma iages wi h Eu opean ci izens a e a e y common solu ion o
mig an s who wan o legalize hei si ua ion in he hos land.
They walked so quickly, hese people, as hough hey had an u gen
des ina ion, a pu pose o hei li es, while he did no . His eyes would
ollow hem, wi h a los longing, and he would hink: You can wo k, you
a e legal, you a e isible, and you don’ e en know how o una e you a e
(Adichie 227)
Howe e , be o e his “con ac ” became o icial, Obinze is a es ed and depo ed
which mean his in isibili y had no been enough.
A policeman clamped handcu s a ound his w is s. He el himsel
wa ching he scene om a away, wa ching himsel walk o he police ca
ou side, and sank in o he oo-so sea in he back (Adichie 278)
He was immedia ely awa e o how i el o be excluded om socie y, which
es ablished se e al issues ega ding iden i y. Wi h his auma ic expe ience,
Ame icanah clea ly calls a en ion o aumas ha I emelu, o ins ance, did no ha e o
go h ough. Ano he impo an scene is he image o se e al immig an s awai ing
depo a ion and “s a ing a he ceiling as hough e acing he jou ney o how [ hey] had
ended up a a holding acili y in Manches e Ai po ” (Adichie 280). While also in
de en ion, Obinze “ el aw, skinned, he ou e laye s o himsel s ipped o ” (Adichie
281).
2.2.2. (Re)lea ning o be A ican
A e hi een yea s in he Uni ed S a es and a he age o 31, I em had a s able
li e. He blog was a success and, in ac , she qui he job o wo k ull- ime on i .
Race een h’s big communi y o ollowe s allowed I emelu o gi e public speeches on
a ious uni e si ies and o he enues. Howe e , she el he blog had de eloped in o
some hing she could no longe con ol.
The blog had un eiled i sel and shed i s milk ee h; by u ns, i su p ised
he , pleased he , le he behind . . . Now ha she was asked o speak a

74
ound ables and panels . . . always iden i ied simply as The Blogge , she
el subsumed by he blog . . . (Adichie 306)
E e y hing was inally going well, he ca ee looked p omising, and she had
eached a s age o accep ance conce ning he Black iden i y. Howe e , “ he e was
some hing w ong wi h he . She did no know wha i was bu he e was some hing
w ong wi h he . A hunge , a es lessness. An incomple e knowledge o he sel . The
sense o some hing a he away, beyond he each” (Adichie 290). This lack o sel -
unde s anding is clea ly a esul o he agmen ed iden i y which had supp essed
h oughou he yea s he woman she had been in Nige ia. The e o e, she el ha he
new sel domina ed he oldes one and as she ealized ha he iden i y b oke once again.
Al hough he new li e was good, i did no allow he o be en i ely he sel and hus she
was no able o ind a middle g ound. A e all his ime, I emelu’s disillusionmen wi h
he Wes e n li es yle began o g ow while she de eloped a mo e idealis ic iew o
Nige ia hus “expe iencing a yea ning so acu e i mo phs in o homesickness” (Phi i 14).
Nige ian websi es, Nige ian p o iles on Facebook, Nige ian blogs, and
each click b ough ye ano he s o y o a young pe son who had ecen ly
mo ed back home, clo hed in Ame ican o B i ish deg ees, o s a an
in es men company, a music p oduc ion business, a ashion label, a
magazine, a as - ood anchise. She looked a pho og aphs o hese men
and women and el he dull ache o loss, as hough hey had p ied open
he hand and aken some hing o he s. They we e li ing he li e. Nige ia
became whe e she was supposed o be, he only place she could sink he
oo s in wi hou he cons an u ge o ug hem ou and shake o he soil.
(Adichie 6)
Nige ia, om a dis ance, s a ed o eplace Ame ica as he new d eamland.
The e o e, she decided o mo e back o Lagos. He las days in he US we e emphasized
by a cons an sadness and “an anxious A opoli an longing o a secu e place o
belonging, o o a sense o e- oo edness” (Knudsen and Rahbek 121):
. . . and ye he e was cemen in he soul. I had been he e o a while, an
ea ly mo ning disease o a igue, a bleakness and bo de lessness. I
b ough wi h i amo phous longings, shapeless desi es, b ie imagina y
glin s o o he li es she could be li ing, ha o e he mon hs melded in o a
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pie cing homesickness . . . Nige ia became whe e she was supposed o be,
he only place she could sink he oo s in wi hou he cons an u ge o ug
hem ou and shake o he soil. (Adichie 6)
A his poin , I emelu ab up ly s ops blog w i ing when he nephew Dike
a emp s o commi suicide, which also delays he depa u e o Nige ia. As I emelu is
coping wi h he si ua ion, he en ies disappea a he end o he chap e s.
A e some ime, I emelu s a ed o a ange e e y hing o he e u n and decided
o do a inal ac o accep ing he A icanness: h ough he hai . In ac , one o he mos
pain ul hings I em had o change abou he sel in he US we e he looks because “black
hai is subjec o sc u iny because i le na u al, i is poli icized, and i ea ed o
s aigh ened, i is o en done so o ame esses in o a mo e Wes e n – and less
h ea ening – idea o beau y” (McMann 208). Back in Nige ia, she wo e b aids and long
ex ensions bu in Ame ica she was wa ned ha he hai s yle would no help he ind a
job and so she decided o s aigh en i . E en he Aun y Uju was al eady con o med wi h
his eali y: “I ha e o ake my b aids ou o my in e iews and elax my hai . . . I you
ha e b aids, hey will hink you a e unp o essional” (Adichie 119). Du ing I emelu’s
childhood she had al eady s aigh ened i a ew imes wi h he help o he aun . In
Ame ica, she i s decided o do i he sel , applying hai elaxe s bough om
d ugs o es, which u ned ou o be a bad decision. Finally, she wen o he hai d esse ,
who managed o do i igh , al hough he scalp el like i was bu ning. Howe e , i was
om he momen I em s epped ou o he salon ha he pain sha pened. She el
dep essed, melancholic, as i a close ela i e had jus died. The na a o does, in ac ,
p o ide he image o dea h, a kind o loss o he A ican iden i y. Taming he hai was
comple ely agains na u e: “She le he salon almos mou n ully; while he hai d esse
had la -i oned he ends, he smell o bu ning, o some hing o ganic dying which should
no ha e died” (Adichie 203). The d as ic change o he looks had se e e consequences
76
o he hai : he scalp was ull o scabs and pus and she began losing big amoun s o hai .
I em was o ced o cu i ex emely sho which only agg a a ed he low sel -es eem
and made he so unhappy and ashamed she did no lea e he house o days.
As a esul o his e ible expe ience, I em decided o go na u al again and o
allow he hai o g ow as i should. Fo ha o happen, she cu all unheal hy pa s o he
hai which is no mally called he “big chop”. This s ep was undamen al, since hai
played an impo an ole in he no el and was commonly seen as a poli ical s a emen .
Fo ins ance, when I emelu showed up a wo k wi h he sho A o she was asked by
one o he colleagues: “Does i mean any hing? Like some hing poli ical?” (Adichie
211). Al hough I em had decided o g ow he na u al hai , she did no know how o ca e
o i . The e o e, a iend sugges ed he a websi e called happilykinkynappy.com in
which o he Black women wi h na u al hai sha ed hei expe iences and ad ice. Being
a pa o his communi y helped I emelu unde s and he hai be e , emb ace i and,
o e all, accep he A ican iden i y.
O he s w o e esponses, pos ing humbs-up signs, elling he how much
hey liked he pho o she had pu up. She had ne e alked abou God so
much. Pos ing on he websi e was like gi ing es imony in chu ch; he
echoing oa o app o al e i ed he . On an un ema kable day in ea ly
sp ing . . . she looked in he mi o , sank he inge s in o he hai , dense
and spongy and glo ious, and could no imagine i any o he way. Tha
simply, she ell in lo e wi h he hai . (Adichie 213)
Ch onologically, he na a i e begins a he end o I emelu’s li e jou ney as she
was al eady on he schola ship a P ince on and had al eady decided o mo e back o
Lagos. Be o e e u ning, she wan ed o ge he hai b aided bu doing his inal ac was
no easy o he since she could no ind salons capable o b aiding he hai . She had o
go on a one-hou ain ip o ind an A ican hai salon. This clea ly shows he kind o
ma ginaliza ion Black women had o go h ough jus o ake ca e o hei looks and how
he e is s ill so much misconcep ion ega ding A ican hai ca e.
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S ill in his subjec , I em also became awa e o how he Ame ican beau y
indus y disc imina ed he Black communi y. When she was wi h he i s lo e , Cu ,
who “[ ailed] o unde s and his inhe i ed p i ilege as a he e osexual whi e male”
(McCoy 284), sugges ed o I emelu ha Essence magazine was “ acially skewed”
(Adichie 296) because only Black women we e ea u ed in i s con en . F us a ed wi h
his ema k, I emelu ook Cu o a books o e and asked him o coun h ough se e al
mains eam beau y magazines and ind how many black women he e we e, coming o
he conclusion ha he e we e no mo e han h ee o ou . Sa is ied o being igh ye
us a ed o Cu ’s comple e unawa eness she added:
. . . h ee black women in maybe wo housand pages o women’s
magazines, and all o hem a e bi acial o acially ambiguous, so hey
could also be Indian o Pue o Rican o some hing. No one o hem is
da k. No one o hem looks like me, so I can’ ge clues o makeup om
hese magazines. (Adichie 295)
In ac , his was one o he inal inciden s ha led o he b eaking up he
ela ionship wi h Cu and, consequen ly, s a ing he blog.
While doing he hai a Malian Ma iama’s hai salon, I em ealized how i was a
place o cul u al di e si y and o ansna ional solida i y, as all he employees we e
om di e en A ican coun ies bu had one hing in common: hai . Con a y o he
s uden s’ associa ions, he salon did no sepa a e bu a he b ough Black people
oge he o a common in e es . In his case, he main ocus is no sha ing expe iences
be ween being A ican o A ican Ame ican bu as being Black women wi h na u al
kinky hai . By sha ing his aspec o hei A icanness i is clea how his in e sec ion
be ween Blackness and eminini y c ea ed a space o belonging and a kind o empo a y
communi y.
I onically, on ha day, a young whi e woman, Kelsey, came o also ge he hai
b aided like he ac ess Bo De ick which “cons i u es a signi ie o he wes e n exo icis
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app op ia ion o Black hai s yle” (C uz-Gu ié ez 7). This scene a he salon is e y
impo an , because I emelu s a ed o unde s and he A ican iden i y in a space s ongly
delimi ed by anscul u alism. The di e en languages ha we e being spoken
simul aneously clea ly showed how hese A ican mig an s wo king a he salon wan ed
o in eg a e in o wes e n cul u e.
The con e sa ions we e loud and swi , in F ench o Wolo o Malinke,
and when hey spoke English o cus ome , i was b oken, cu ious, as
hough hey had no qui e eased in o he language i sel be o e aking on a
slangy Ame icanism. The wo ds came ou hal -comple ed (Adichie 9)
I emelu e en ecalled a pa icula scene whe e a Guinean b aide had said o he
“Amma like, Oh Gad, Az someh” which she did no unde s and a i s and la e on
ealized she mean o say “I’m like, Oh God, I was so mad” (Adichie 9). The opic o
he accen is e y impo an in Ame icanah as p e iously discussed on he i s sec ion
when I emelu ealized ha he Ame ican accen mean losing he own iden i y. As yea s
wen by, she ealized ha he accen , which she had pe ec ed, “had le in i s wake a
as echoing space [because i was] a pi ch o oice and a way o being ha was no
he s” (Adichie 175). This epiphany is c ucial in I em’s p ocess o eco e ing he
iden i y.
2.2.3. Lea ning o be A opoli an
When I emelu inally mo ed back o Lagos, she ealized she had e u ned o a
place she did no ecognize anymo e, howe e i was no he place ha had changed bu
a he he . She el like an ou side and saw e e y hing h ough a di e en pe spec i e.
Lagos assaul ed he ; he sun-dazed has e, he yellow buses ull o squashed
limbs, he swea ing hawke s acing a e ca s . . . and he heaps o ubbish
ha ose on he oadsides like a aun . . . One mo ning, a man’s body lay
on Awolowo Road . . . [S]he had he dizzying sensa ion o alling, alling
in o he new pe son she had become, alling in o he s ange amilia . Had
i always been like his o had i changed so much in he absence? . . .
I emelu s a ed ou o he window, hal lis ening, hinking how unp e y

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Lagos was, oads in es ed wi h po holes, houses sp inging up unplanned
like weeds. (Adichie 385)
I emelu had bo h a sense o s angeness and amilia i y, ha ing o go en o
e en ep essed how li e was back home. Howe e , e en in Lagos she con inued o
igno e he eali y whils she d o e in an ai -condi ioned ca , wo ked in an ai -
condi ioned o ice and e en isola ed he sel in he ai -condi ioned house. Despi e ha
she s ill missed “low- a soy milk, NPR
48
, as in e ne and good cus ome se ice”
(Adichie 408) which mean ha al hough she had lea ned how o become A ican again,
she could ne e be only ha because he iden i y had been oo much assimila ed.
The e o e, she had become an Ame icanah; a name he old iends called he and which
mean “an amalgama ion o bo h cul u es” (Land y 144).
Despi e he s ong pe sonali y, I em was “Ame icanized” and was able o blend
in o he Ame ican way o li e. In o de o help he be einse ed in o Lagos’ socie y,
I emelu isi ed he Nige poli an Club, in which “sel -abso bed and aliena ed e u nees”
(Ndaka 13) me and sha ed expe iences and opinions abou being back home. Howe e ,
she did no enjoy sha ing hese expe iences and el dis an om he es o he e u nees
who she belie ed we e oo much sophis ica ed and a i icial.
. . . people d inking champagne in pape cups, a he poolside o a home in
Osbo ne Es a e, chic people, all d ipping wi h sa oi ai e, each nu sing a
sel s yled qui kiness – a ginge -colou ed A o, a T-shi wi h a g aphic o
Thomas Sanka a, o e size handmade ea ings ha hung like pieces o
mode n a . Thei oices bu ed wi h o eign accen s. You can’ ind a
decen smoo hie in his ci y! Oh my God, we e you a ha con e ence?
Wha his coun y needs is an ac i e ci il socie y. (Adichie 407)
These Nige poli ans a e, o cou se, a di ec e e ence o he new gene a ion o
sophis ica ed and in ellec ual A ican mig an s, he A opoli ans, o whom I emelu also
belonged. Howe e , despi e he ac ha du ing hese mee ings she ag eed wi h mos o
48
Na ional Public Radio.
80
wha was discussed, she el uncom o able o consen ing and eeling he same
dissa is ac ion and misplacemen as he o he s. This p omp s I em o es a blog w i ing
o e lec upon hese emo ions. Conside ing ha I emelu el ha as soon as she “go o
he plane in Lagos [she] s opped being black.” (Adichie 476) and gi en he di e en
ci cums ances, she s a ed a new blog en i led “The Small Redemp ion o Lagos”, in
which she did no alk abou ace wha soe e , bu wha she expe ienced and saw in
Lagos. None heless, blog w i ing in Ame ica was di e en han in Nige ia since he e
was almos no dis ance be ween I em as a pe son and I em as a blogge and he ci cle o
eade s was much mo e es ic . This becomes clea when I emelu, inspi ed by he
iend Ranyinudo’s li e, whose husband was he sou ce o income in hei household,
w i es an en y abou “Young Women in Lagos wi h Unknown Sou ces o Weal h”
(Adichie 422). When he iend ealized she was he cha ac e I em was e e ing o on
he pos , she accused I emelu o ac ing supe io : “How is i di e en om you and he
ich whi e guy in Ame ica? . . . You need o s op his nonsense. S op eeling so
supe io ” (Adichie 423). This only dis anced he wo pe sonas I emelu embodied and
made i di icul o he o only obse e he su oundings and commen on hem.
I emelu and Obinze econnec ed in hei home own, bu she e used o become
his mis ess and did no accep he ac he could no lea e his wi e o he sake o hei
ekindled passion. This oman ic d ama clea ly pu I emelu’s blog w i ing in o ano he
s uc u e, becoming mo e emo ional as hey se each o he apa o a sho pe iod o
ime. A ha ime, I emelu imagined each pos could be a way o alk wi h Obinze: “She
w o e he blog pos s wonde ing wha he would make o hem” (Adichie 474).
Acco ding o Se ena Gua acino:
The main cha ac e ’s e u n o blogging shows ha he no el’s c i ique o
he modes o cul u al p oduc ion in he global, in e ne d i en ma ke is
no all-encompassing; on he con a y, he in e ac ion o di e en modes o
w i ing expands on he complex ela ions among di e en expe iences, and
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also an awa eness o he wide deba e on A opoli anism as one o he
main global discou ses on A ican and A ican-Ame ican cul u al
p oduc ion oday. (Gua acino 19-21)
Al hough Ame icanah ollows a popula line o immig an na a i iza ion in
which s o ies o success a e ea u ed, Adichie also p esen s ano he pa h h ough
Obinze’s s o y which does no ep esen an expe ience o p i ilege bu a he o
humilia ion. While in Lagos, amongs I emelu’s blog en ies on ashion, he ela ionship
o he Nige poli an club, she also demons a es how she was no able o dis ance he sel
om he li e she had in he US and all he hings she was al eady used o: “We a e jus
one s ep away om his li e in a slum, all o us who li e ai -condi ioned middle-class
li es, she w o e, and wonde ed i Obinze would ag ee” (Adichie 475).
O e all, back in Lagos I emelu s uggled wi h accep ing he own cul u al
hyb idi y, especially when ha accep ance mean ha Ame ica had success ully di ided
he . None heless, being in Nige ia helped he anscend he acial bo de by no ha ing
o wo y abou being a Black woman in an all-Black communi y and es a ing blog
w i ing allowed he o unde s and he dispa i ies be ween he ob ious bina y A ica s
Wes , and by ( e)disco e ing Lagos she ( e)disco e ed he sel . Unde s anding ha she
belonged bo h o A ica and Ame ica and ha he once-cohesi e iden i y would o e e
be agmen ed was he way o inally spinning “he sel ully in o being” (Adichie 475).
A his poin in he na a i e, i is clea how I emelu has unde gone wo dis inc
lea ning p ocesses. Fi s ly, i mus be aken in o conside a ion ha I em le Nige ia as a
young adul who had al eady gone h ough a p ocess o o ma ion and ma u a ion in
Lagos, condi ioned by i s cul u e and adi ions. The e o e, mo ing o ano he coun y a
he age o 18 mean ha she had o ( e)lea n and ( e)shape he iden i y. The i s
lea ning p ocess occu ed in he US, whe e she had o unde s and wha i mean o be
Black and acknowledge he di e ences be ween A icans and A ican Ame icans. The
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second lea ning p ocess happened du ing he e u n o Lagos whe e she lea ned how o
li e as an “amalgama ion” o wo cul u es, ha is, being Ame ican and A ican.
I emelu’s coming-o -age na a i e concludes, ecalling G aham’s wo ds, “wi h
an epiphany ha b ings insigh ” (G aham 120) which is cha ac e is ic o he classic
no el o de elopmen . None heless, he na a i iza ion o I emelu’s li e jou ney also
coincides wi h he Ame ican Bildungs oman because “ he expe ience o young
p o agonis s ends o heigh en, a he han dispel” (G aham 120) wha B igid Lowe
e med “ he anxie ies o a mode n age”. In I emelu’s own indi idualis ic de elopmen
she ejec s he cons ain s o home and se s ou on a jou ney o ace many obs acles.
Howe e , as men ioned by Leseu in he i s chap e , he ha dships o he New Wo ld
and he he oine’s s uggle agains socie y leads o a p ocess o sel - ealiza ion and
di e en ia ion o he indi idual.
2.3. Conclusion
O e all, Ame icanah analyzes di e en issues ha a e ela ed o auma,
exclusion o agmen a ion, namely mig a ion and he no ion o o he ness. All hese
aspec s esona e wi hin a b oade concep ha del es in o he subjec o anscul u al
iden i y in a globalized wo ld which is A opoli anism, al eady discussed in de ail on
chap e I. As p e iously men ioned, a leas ou o i e di e en in e p e a ions o his
cul u al end we e iden i ied, namely Selasi’s eli is concep o A icans o he wo ld,
Mbembe’s ee ci cula ion o wo lds, Dabi i’s eading o how A opoli anism is in
“collusion wi h consume ism” (Dabi i 104), Salami’s concep o a “glocal” (Salami
n.p.) space, Eze’s analysis o A opoli anism as an hype cul u e, o name a ew.
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ex eme hunge , AIDS, sexual abuse, e c. Bulawayo’s choice o name an
unde p i ileged illage Pa adise was su ely in en ional as i e okes a desi e o ha
neighbo hood o e ol e. Howe e , Da ling, as a e y obse an child, p o ides a
di e en image o he home as i challenging he eade o see pas he nega i e aspec s
and o see beau y.
Pa adise is all in and s e ches ou in he sun like a we sheepskin nailed
on he g ound o d y; he shacks a e he muddy colo o di y puddles a e
he ains. The shacks hemsel es a e e ible bu om up he e, hey seem
much be e , almos beau i ul e en, i ’s like I’m looking a a pain ing.
(Bulawayo 34)
Da ling’s high posi ion a a hill op allows he o see Pa adise h ough a di e en
pe spec i e and ins ills a s ange sense o home despi e he b u al condi ions and laws
o he neighbo hood. Compa ing Pa adise o a wo k o a is su ely a way o challenge
wha a Wes e n audience would see as a land o desola ion. This slum had been
cons uc ed a e he independence wa wi h he UK and was ollowed by hi y yea s o
Robe Mugabe’s
50
dic a o ship. Da ling was a ic im o he Ope a ion Mu amba si a o
Ope a ion Res o e O de which was a go e nmen campaign ha s a ed in 2005 o
o cibly clea p eca ious egions o Zimbabwe by des oying se e al houses unde he
p e ense o igh ing po e y. Al hough Mugabe is no openly men ioned h oughou he
no el, his dic a o ship is undeniably ela ed o he e en s. This means We Need New
Names could be conside ed a po ayal o he exe cise o powe and i s consequences.
Du ing he 70s, Zimbabwe was igh ing o i s independence om he B i ish ule and
in he 80s i became independen . Howe e , his eedom did no mean he coun y
would e ol e socially, poli ically, and economically a he i con inued o ecede.
The e o e, Bulawayo po ays how Zimbabweans we e be ayed by a dic a o ’s
leade ship du ing he las hi y yea s which leads o he mo i o disillusionmen .
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Mugabe was P ime Minis e o Zimbabwe om 1980 o 1987 and hen P esiden om 1987 o 2017.

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Bulawayo has shown how poli ical disillusionmen can lead o despai and how his
o en leads o o cing communi ies o escape in ea . The ha dships o li ing in Pa adise
due o his disillusionmen clea ly igge ed Da ling and some o he iends o lea e
Zimbabwe.
To pass he ime, Da ling and he iends used o go o he closes ich
neighbo hood, Budapes , which was mos ly popula ed by whi e people. To sa ia e hei
hunge , he child en used o s eal gua as om hei neighbo s: “ he e a e gua as o s eal
in Budapes , and igh now I’d a he die o gua as. We didn’ ea his mo ning and my
s omach eels like somebody jus ook a sho el and dug e e y hing ou ” (Bulawayo 1).
These child en’s hunge and despe a e need o nou ishmen al eady exempli y how he
pica esque no el o en uses such na u al scenes as a ehicle o c i ique by unco e ing
he e iden social dispa i y. Fu he mo e, he child en’s si ua ion is o en po ayed in a
humo is ic one and wi h a ecu en use o s ong and ealis ic images o exc emen . In
he same chap e , Da ling desc ibes how hey had de eca ed a e ha ing s olen he
gua as and ea en in disp opo iona e amoun s.
By he ime we ge back o Pa adise he gua as a e inished and ou
s omachs a e so ull we a e almos c awling. We s op o de eca e in he
bush because we ha e ea en oo much. Plus i is bes o do i be o e i ge s
oo da k. (Bulawayo 15)
In pos colonial w i ing, sca ology, namely he p esence o exc emen , can
“ ed ess a his o y o debasemen by displaying he ailu es o de elopmen and he
con adic ions o colonial discou se and, mo eo e , by dis up ing inhe i ed associa ions
o exc emen wi h colonized o nonwes e n popula ions” (Es y 30). Awa eness o he
a ogan scale o colonial hie ing and en i lemen in he unnamed coun y is seen
h ough Da ling’s own expe ience o s ealing gua as o appease he gnawing hunge .
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I you a e s ealing some hing i ’s be e i i ’s small and hideable o
some hing you can ea quickly and be done wi h, like gua as. Tha way,
people can’ see you wi h he hing o be eminded ha you a e a
shameless hie and ha you s ole i om hem, so I don’ know wha he
whi e people we e ying o do, s ealing no jus a iny piece, bu a whole
coun y. (Bulawayo 20)
This clea ly shows how he economic and poli ical i emains isible in A ica,
as he whi e subu b o Budapes s ill shows disce nable aces o colonialism.
A e Da ling, he iends and espec i e amilies had been ic ims o he b u al
ope a ion o Mugabe ha b ough hem o he poo neighbo hood o Pa adise, he
p o agonis was s ill igh ened and auma ized, ha ing nigh ma es wi h he sound o
bulldoze s des oying hei homes: “I y o push i away and push i away bu he
d eams keep coming and coming” (Bulawayo 65). Me apho ically, he bulldoze is he
symbol o dic a o ial powe which lea es bo h child en and adul s de enseless and
shocked wi h i s mons osi y.
I hea he adul s saying, Why, why, why, wha ha e we done, wha ha e
we done, wha ha e we done? Then he lo ies come ca ying he police
wi h hose guns and ba on s icks and we un and hide inside he houses,
bu i ’s no use hiding because he bulldoze s s a bulldozing and
bulldozing and we a e sc eaming and sc eaming”. (Bulawayo 65)
Bulawayo p esen s Pa adise as a “mic ocosm o a pos colonial na ion ha is
ba e ed by yea s cha ac e ized by a g oss abuse o powe ” (Mapanzu e 43). The i le o
he no el seems o be a call o change o he igu es in powe and o hose who we e
esponsible o he c isis and b u ali y. Again, he p esence o Zimbabwe’s poli ical
con ex eme ges indi ec ly h ough sub le e e ences, such as he illain o he no el,
who he eade unde s ands is a s ong poli ical igu e ha appea s on he news “ aising
his is s . . . saying how ou coun y is a black man’s home and would ne e be a colony
again” (Bulawayo 192). This kind o speech has been associa ed wi h Mugabe’s by
many pe cep i e eade s. We Need Names hus c i icizes he pe sis ence o old and
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powe ul names, such as Mugabe’s, and implici ly pleas o he eme gence o new
poli ical igu es ha can pu an end o such po e y and unhappiness.
This s ong appeal o change is e iden , o ins ance, in one o Da ling’s
iends, Bo n ee, whose exci emen and ingenuous belie end up cos ing him his li e.
The people o Pa adise we e, in ac , u ged o b ing change in o hei li es by a new
opposi ion mo emen called “Change people”. Many belie e his o be a di ec
e e ence o he Mo emen o Democ a ic Change (MDC), Mugabe’s main opposi ion,
led by Mo gan Ts angi ai who ad ised his suppo e s o o e in na ional elec ions and
con ibu e o a new poli ical powe . Bo n ee becomes a s ong suppo e o his ac i is
mo emen and un o una ely is killed by Mugabe’s mili an s. Al hough Bulawayo ne e
de ails his cha ac e ’s mu de , he eade wi nesses Da ling and he iends’ e-
enac men o his momen . Bo n ee’s dea h sca ed he communi y o Pa adise and
lowe ed hei expec a ions o change, ealizing he high cos o d eaming abou new
names: “ he wai ing did no end and he change did no happen. And hen hose men
came o Bo n ee. Tha did i , ha made he adul s s op alking abou change. I was
like he o ing and he pa ying and e e y hing ha had happened had no e e
happened” (Bulawayo 135).
In gene al, We Need Names is a c i ique o pos colonial Zimbabwean
dic a o ship h ough which childhood is he main ehicle o i s exposu e. Da ling is a
e y sensi i e and conscious gi l who unde s ands how he wo ld and mainly he
coun y should be o ganized. In an a icle published in The Gua dian, Bulawayo
explains how child en a e essen ial in he plo .
My p o agonis , Da ling, was inspi ed by a pho og aph o his kid si ing
on he ubble ha was his bulldozed home a e he Zimbabwean
go e nmen ca ied ou Ope a ion Mu amba s ina, a clean-up campaign in
2005 ha saw some people in in o mal se lemen s lose hei homes. As I
looked a image a e haun ing image, I became obsessed wi h whe e he
people would go, wha hei s o ies we e, and how hese s o ies would
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de elop – and mo e impo an ly wha would happen o he kid in he i s
pic u e I saw. The w i ing p ojec essen ially became abou inding ou .
The coun y was he backd op, and o cou se i was a a ime when i was
un a elling due o ailu e o leade ship. S ill, I was also inspi ed by wha
child en can s and o , by hei innocence, hei esilience, humani y and
humou , and wha hey ell us abou ou wo ld. I hink his is whe e We
Need New Names ge s i pulse. (Bulawayo n.p.)
In he na a i e, child en and young adul s a e he social commen a o s o li e
h ough a play ul and humo ous pe spec i e which may be used as a su i al mode o
he ha sh eali y hey a e exposed o. Consequen ly, he na a i e is imbued wi h
hones y om he pe spec i e o a child who had no ul e io mo i e bu o ell he s o y
o he li e and he su oundings as she pe cei ed and unde s ood i . Al hough he
pe spec i e may be limi ed “in e ms o knowledge, expe ience, and unde s anding [i ]
can o e an e ec i e mode o he c i ique o social and poli ical issues” (Wilkinson
124).
A good example o his c i ique is he “Coun y-Game” Da ling and he g oup
used o play. Essen ially, he game consis ed o d awing imagina y maps on he g ound
wi h all he coun ies hey knew and which hey had o igh o e o , because e e yone
“wan s o be he US, and B i ain and Canada and Aus alia and Swi ze land and F ance
and I aly and Sweden and Ge many and Russia and G eece. These a e he coun y-
coun ies” (Bulawayo 49). Those who los his imagina y poli ical igh would ha e “ o
se le o coun ies like Dubai and Sou h A ica and Bo swana and Tanzania. These a e
no coun y-coun ies, bu a leas li e is be e han he e” (Bulawayo 49). Th ough his
innocen ye insigh ul game, i is clea ha hese child en al eady unde s ood how all
hese coun ies belonged o a hie a chy and ha hei coun y was a he bo om o i .
The p esence o Wes e n in luence is e iden e en be o e Da ling mig a es o
he US, which implies she al eady had some knowledge, al hough naï e and idealized,
o Ame ica. In ac , he i s hal o he no el is la gely engaged wi h all kinds o
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a oci ies and su e ings ha , in a way, a e ela ed o he Wes . Fo example, Chipo, one
o Da ling’s iends, who was aped and imp egna ed by he own g and a he , was so
auma ized ha she was unable o alk o mon hs. Chipo only egained he speech a e
wi nessing ano he woman being sexually abused, al hough his ime by he own’s
p ies P ophe Re ela ion Bi ching on Mbo o who moles ed his woman in on o an
en i e cong ega ion, including he woman’s husband. The p ophe claimed he was
pe o ming an exo cism. Being p esen o such a scene enabled Chipo o ocalize he
own expe ience o Da ling: “he did ha o me. My g and a he was he e and go on me
and pinned me down like ha and he clamped a hand o e my mou h and was hea y
like a moun ain” (Bulawayo 42-43). La e in he na a i e, in a chap e called “We Need
New Names”, Chipo decided she did no wan o be in he “condi ion” (p egnan ) no
longe and asked he iends o help. As child en, hey did no unde s and en i ely
Chipo’s si ua ion, e e ing o he p egnancy as some hing in “he s omach” o a
“bulge” (Bulawayo 80). Nei he he o he iends knew how o help and he eade is
p esen ed wi h a powe ul image o hese child en sca enging o hings o help, namely
a us y clo hes hange which alludes o he pe o mance o illegal abo ions ha a e e y
common in de eloping coun ies. To help hem play hei ole as doc o s who a e going
o help a pa ien , he child en eel hey needed new names and hus go inspi ed by he
Ame ican ele ision show ER (Eme gency Room). Fo gi eness became D .Cu e ,
Da ling was D .Roz and Sbho became D .Bulle . In e p e ing hese Ame ican cha ac e s
helped hem eel con iden and secu e abou his highly dange ous p ocedu e and, in a
way, mask he ha shness o he si ua ion. Fo una ely, he dange ous ope a ion was
in e up ed.
The p esence o he Wes is also e iden in he egula isi s o Non-
Go e nmen al O ganiza ions (NGO) ha b ough gi s o he child en and o e ed “wha

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is cha ac e ized as supe icial help and pa onizing sympa hy” (Ndlo u 4). In ac , he
NGO we e desc ibed as cold and unsympa he ic. Da ling says: “We a e ca e ul no o
ouch he NGO people…because we can see ha e en hough hey a e gi ing us hings,
hey do no wan o ouch us o o us o ouch hem” (Bulawayo 54). Bulawayo’s
c i icism o hese Ame ican o ganiza ions is clea ly implied. The e o e, Da ling and he
iends’ abjec po e y becomes an objec o cu iosi y o hese o ganiza ions: “They
don’ ca e ha we a e emba assed by ou di and o n clo hing, ha we would p e e
hey didn’ do i ; hey jus ake he pic u es anyway, ake and ake. We don’ complain
because a e he pic u e- aking comes he gi ing o gi s” (Bulawayo 54). This is an
example o how child en, especially Da ling, el in e io , exploi ed and insul ed. These
pho og aphs would su ely be used by Wes e n media in o de o pe pe ua e a
s e eo yped image o A ica. In addi ion o his, con olling how A ican cul u es a e
ep esen ed also means ha he Wes is able o main ain his image as a sa io .
Ano he auma izing scene happens a he end o he i s chap e , “Hi ing
Budapes ”, in which he child en s umble upon he dead body o a young woman who
had hanged he sel , mos likely because she had been su e ing om AIDS. This
dis essing and ealis ic scene po ays his g oup o child en who a e shocked a i s
bu a e soon h illed by he shoes he woman wo e since i could help hem buy a loa o
b ead hey despe a ely hunge ed o .
We all u n a ound and ollow Bas a d back in o he bush, he dizzying
smell o Lobels b ead all a ound us now, and hen we a e ushing, hen we
a e unning, hen we a e unning and laughing and laughing and laughing.
(Bulawayo 18)
This clea ly shows ha Bulawayo is cons an ly hin ing he discon en men
owa ds he coun y o o igin, unmasking a dys unc ional pos colonial A ican
go e nmen ha has led hei coun y o ex emely di icul condi ions. In addi ion o
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his, Bulawayo’s ex ensi e use o sca ological exp essions h oughou he no el a e
clea ly a c i ique o he s a e’s incapaci y which is condemned by me e child en and he
e e ence o hei home, hei coun y and any hing as “kaka”.
I is impo an o no e ha Bulawayo’s no el is ex ensi ely discussed by he
academic wo ld and a common eading o he no el is ha i con i ms some s e eo yped
images o A ica ha a e pe pe ua ed by he Wes . We Need New Names is equen ly
conside ed “po e y po n” which “is used as a mo alis ically de oga o y e m because
o anxie ies ha an appea ance o social consciousness is hough o mask an unseemly
enjoymen o o he s’ su e ing” (S obie 8). The no el does, in ac , desc ibe many
images o p eca i y. Du ing he i s pa o he no el, in Pa adise, p eca i y is p esen ed
h ough he depic ion o po e y, hunge , mu de , suicide, disease, e c. On he second
pa , a e Da ling’s depa u e o Ame ica, she s ill deals wi h p eca i y in many o ms,
namely h ough he e ec s o mig a ion, po e y, di icul assimila ion and acism.
Wainaina has also commen ed on he no el and conside ed ha i s main objec i e is o
be “pi ied, wo shiped o domina ed” (q d. in Mo ahane and Makombe 5).
Helon Habila, in a c i ical e iew o Bulawayo’s no el, sugges s ha i icks a
“checklis made om he mo ning’s news on A ica”, hus w i ing abou he con inen
“no in a eal agic sense, mo e in a CNN, wes e n-media-co e age-o -A ica, po e y-
po n sense” whe e “child soldie s, genocide, child p os i u ion, emale geni al
mu ila ion, poli ical iolence, police b u ali y, dic a o ships, p eda o y p eache s, dead
bodies on he oadside” (Habila n.p.) a e ep esen ed. The ac ha he au ho
o e whelms he eade wi h such scena ios leads o, acco ding o Habila, a
“desensi iza ion” (Habila n.p.) o he images being desc ibed. Fu he mo e, he c i ic
also s a es ha his abundance o nega i e symbols almos implies a “palpable anxie y
o co e e e y ‘A ican’ opic” (Habila n.p.). The e iew sugges s ha his w i ing s yle
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has possibly allen in o a “Caine-p ize aes he ic
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” (Habila n.p.) which consis s o a
o mula ha publishe s and edi o s ha e begun o pe pe ua e and ein o ce since ha
pa icula w i ing s yle has led o success.
In “A ican Books o Wes e n Eyes”, a 2014 e iew w i en by he Nige ian
no elis Adaobi T icia Nwaubani, i is also ema ked ha A ican no els a e s ill
p ima ily a ge ed o Wes e n eade s and ha “success o an A ican w i e s ill
depends on he Wes ” (Nwaubani n.p.). The au ho suppo s he claim by u he
indica ing ha he e is almos no access o publica ion o dis ibu ion o A ican
li e a u e o he con inen hus ques ioning: “Why else ha e b u ali y and dep a i y been
he co e o many celeb a ed A ican s o ies?” (Nwaubani n.p.).
Howe e , i can also be a gued ha hese s e eo yped images o su e ing and
po e y may be delibe a ely used by he au ho who, acco ding o Ranga i ayi
Mapanzu e, ies o “sub e hose e y ma ke s ha h i e on s e eo ypical no ions o
he black o he ” (Mapanzu e 48). In Mapanzu e’s a icle “When Old Names Re use o
Go: My hs, Powe , and Sub e sion in NoViole Bulawayo’s We Need New Names”
(2019), he co e a gumen consis s o he ac ha he au ho is awa e o he impac
hese no ions ha e on he Wes e n eade and so consciously ies o sub e and sa i ize
he “ eade ’s oyeu is ic ascina ion wi h he black o he ” (Mapanzu e 48). The e o e,
he objec i e is o des abilize he Wes e n eade and his p e-concei ed ideas on he
A ican con inen which a e a pa o Habila’s checklis . Acco ding o he au ho , he
p ocess o decons uc ion is con eyed h ough childhood innocence and blun ness
h ough which di icul scena ios a e exposed wi h no es ain o censo ship. O e all,
Mapanzu e’s in e p e a ion leads o belie e ha We Need New Names belongs o a
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NoViole Bulawayo has won a Caine p ize o he sho s o y “Hi ing Budapes ” which was la e on
ex ended in o We Need New Names.
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gene a ion o coun e -na a i es “ ha unmask he inhe en agili y o es ablished
my hs” (Mapanzu e 49).
In he a icle “Taking Pic u es: The Economy o A ec and Pos colonial
Pe o ma i i y in NoViole Bulawayo’s We Need New Names”, James A ne also
sha es Mapanzu e’s pe spec i e, ques ioning some academic c i ics’ opinion ha he
no el pe o ms po e y. The au ho admi s ha A ican li e a u e has, gene ally, he
Wes e n eade in mind, bu a gues ha “i becomes clea o e he cou se o he no el
ha Bulawayo’s c i ique o he de eloped wo ld’s appe i e o images o su e ing is a
unhouse mi o ha sha e s s e eo ypes . . .” (A ne 151). The way he no el handles
ex eme po e y in A ican coun ies is a good example o how Bulawayo dis up s hese
s e eo ypes by p esen ing esilien and li ely child en who con as wi h a a he oo
well-known image o unde nou ished child en. The e o e, he no el p esen s ano he
pe spec i e on his con o e sial ma e , by showing a comical g oup o iends on an
o ganized mission o sa ia e hei hunge . The ac ha hese child en had o u n o
hie e y o ea some hing is e y se ious. Howe e , in choosing o alle ia e his ma e
he au ho ge s o cap u e he eade s’ a en ion because i shows how he no el di e ges
om o he pos colonial na a i es ha ocus on po e y-po n. The e o e, We Need New
Names is a no el ha does no solely se e he Wes e ne s’ need o pos colonial
consump ion.
O e all, he e a e se e al ques ions o be asked ega ding Bulawayo’s ue
in en ions when depic ing he A ican con inen . Fi s ly, and acco ding o Habila’s and
Nwaubani’s poin s o iew, Bulawayo may ha e used a common o mula ha Wes e n
publishe s ha e no malized as a pa h o success. Secondly, he au ho may ha e
consciously used his o ma o sa i ize and decons uc Wes e n concep s on he
A ican con inen , as Mapanzu e and A ne s a ed.
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place and ge s uck and can’ come back?” (Bulawayo 16). I onically, his is exac ly
wha happens wi h Da ling in he end.
Fo many immig an s, alse hope o achie ing he Ame ican d eam begins much
be o e hey lea e hei home. I is ce ainly h ough globaliza ion and cul u al
impe ialism ha idealis ic images o he US and i s economic p ospe i y and
oppo uni y a e sp ead h ough he wo ld. The e o e, immig an na a i es demons a e
how un ealis ic hese expec a ions a e and how in a pos -a i al shock he e can be
nega i e consequences on bo h he immig an and hose back home who depend on he
assu ances o a d eam. Despi e his ini ial shock, immig an s s ill belie e hey can a
leas indulge in Ame ican excess, ocusing on capi alis alues. In “How They Li ed”,
Bulawayo desc ibes immig an s’ enjoying Ame ican s anda ds o o e indulgence.
A McDonalds, we de ou ed Big Macs and wol ed down ies and guzzled
supe size Cokes. A Bu ge King we wo shipped Whoppe s. A KFC we
mauled bucke chicken. We wen o Chinese bu e s and a e all we could
inhale – ied ice, chicken, bee , sh imp, and as o he hings whose
names we could no ead, we simply poin ed and said, We wan ha …. I
only ou coun y could see us in Ame ica, see us ea like kings in a land
ha was no ou s. (Bulawayo 241)
A sense o p ide is e iden in his scene as i endo sing his kind o excess would
mean gaining he Ame ican s anda d o success in owning and ha ing plen y. I onically,
his o e indulgence does no mean weal h since i occu s in he cheapes ways, wi h
ood co po a ions
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. Famous b ands such as hese a e known o ep esen ing he wo s
kind o Ame ican excess. Howe e , o immig an s sha ing he b ands symbolized a
sign o success.
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This idea o excess esembles Da ling and he iends o e ea ing s olen gua as om Budapes .
Al hough hese wo scena ios also con as , he despe a e consump ion o ood and he illusion o
sa is ac ion ela es hem. Da ling’s expe ience o po e y and lack o nou ishmen leads ine i ably o
excess when she has he oppo uni y o sa ia e he hunge . As o he immig an s in he US, he lack o
money will su ely lead o he choice o ea ing cheap and unheal hy ood ha also gi es a sa ia ing eeling.

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Da ling begins o ealize and assimila e he Ame ican way o li e as she s a s
ac ing like any o he ypical eenage he age, passing ime in he mall wi h iends, o
ins ance, which s ands as a c i ique o consume ism and opulence. One day, Da ling
was su p ised in he mall’s pa king lo by he ca she so eage ly d eam o in Zimbabwe:
“ igh he e, nex o a black an, I see my ca . I don’ e en hesi a e, I un o i , yelling,
My Lambo ghini, Lambo ghini, Lambo ghini Re en ón!” (Bulawayo 224). He iends
hen e ealed o he he p ice o he ca and Da ling go e en mo e us a ed: “I’ll ne e
own i , and i I can’ own i , does i mean I’m poo , and i so, wha is Ame ica o ,
hen?” (Bulawayo 225). This epiphany abou Ame ica clea ly con as s wi h Selasi’s
A opoli an de ini ion o success.
[we] a e A opoli ans – he newes gene a ion o A ican emig an s
coming soon, o collec ed al eady, a a law i m/chem lab/jazz lounge nea
you. You’ll know us when you see us by ou unny blend o London
ashion, New Yo k ja gon, A ica e hics, and academic success. (Selasi
n.p.)
Da ling did no belong o his new gene a ion o success ul A ican immig an s.
F om he s a , he he oine s uggles wi h in eg a ing in o socie y, specially in he school
whe e she is con on ed wi h he una oidable issue o acism. Da ling was equen ly
eased by he colleagues abou he name, he accen , he hai and e en he clo hes.
When you a e being eased abou some hing, a i s you y o ix i so he
easing can s op bu hen hose c azy kids eased me abou e e y hing,
e en he hings I couldn’ change, and i kep going and going so ha in
he end I jus el w ong in my skin, in my body, in my clo hes, in my
language, in my head, e e y hing (Bulawayo 165)
Un o una ely, his mocke y only s opped when a new s uden joined he class,
Tom, “wi h hese c ooked ee h and long, g easy hai and hese la ge glasses and his
sad s u e ” (Bulawayo 166) who became he class’s main a ge . As hey called he boy
“ eak”, Da ling el cu ious as o why hey “said i like hey wan ed o punc u e hei
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bo om lips wi h hei ee h when hey said he pa ” (Bulawayo 166) and so she
googled he wo d in sea ch o i s meaning: “ he e we e a lo o Ame ican wo ds and
hings I was s ill lea ning” (Bulawayo 166). A his poin in he no el, Da ling’s
lea ning p ocess is s ill on an ea ly s age, and she is s ill ying o ge o e he shock o
ha ing he Ame ican d eam comple ely sha e ed. Howe e , acing obs acles such as
hese a school is c ucial o he o ma ion and o he unde s anding o wha i means o
be Black in Ame ica.
Da ling also eels ha she is li ing in a coun y ha is no he s and his eeling is
agg a a ed by many inciden s o cul u al shock. One o which conce ns he di e ence
o adi ions and cul u e. Fo example, a Dumi’s wedding, one o Aun Fos alina’s
exes, he e was a young boy named Mandla who was playing wi h a ball ha he kep
h owing a andom gues s. E en ually, he child hi a whi e old woman in he ches and
Da ling “s ops b ea hing” (Bulawayo 181), bu he woman did no punish no ep ehend
he child. When he ball hi Da ling in he eye, “[she] quickly g abs he li le b a , [goes]
pha-pha-pha wi h quick slaps and aps his head wi h [he ] knuckles, wice” (Bulawayo
183). This punishmen was a na u al beha io o Da ling, howe e she does no
unde s and why he o he gues s kep s a ing a he in disapp o al while o he s, A ican
gues s, kep eassu ing hem “no o ea . This is jus how we handle un uly child en in
ou cul u e” (Bulawayo 183).
Ano he shock o Da ling was ealizing how he e was so much misconcep ion
o he Wes e n communi y abou A ica. Dumi’s wedding, once again, exempli ies ha
issue. Du ing he ce emony, a woman app oached Da ling and asked he o “jus say
some hing in you language . . . any hing, eally” (Bulawayo 174) o which Da ling
conceded. Howe e , wi h a supe icial en husiasm, he woman eplied: “Isn’ i
beau i ul?” (Bulawayo 174); and con inued: “A ica is beau i ul . . . Bu isn’ i e ible
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wha ’s happening in he Congo? Jus aw ul” (Bulawayo 175). This unin es ed in e es
and misconcep ion we e clea ly an a emp o a one o he su e ing o o he s.
Jesus, he apes, and all hose killings! . . . I mean, I can’ e en – I can’
e en p ocess i . And all hose poo women and child en. I was wa ching
CNN las nigh and he e was a li le gi l who was jus – jus oo cu e, she
says. He eyes s a o mis and she looks down. (Bulawayo 175-176)
He e e ence o hese c imes agains humani y we e so unspeci ic as i he
p oblems o pos colonial coun ies we e iden ical ac oss he con inen , al hough he
woman hough Da ling was Congolese and hus unde s ood wha she was e e ing o.
This lack o knowledge was e en mo e o ensi e and implied a wes e n supe io i y
disguised as empa hy. In addi ion o his, he woman p aised he niece who was “going
o Rwanda o help . . . She’s in he Peace Co ps, you know, hey a e doing g ea hings
o A ica” (Bulawayo 176). This sel -cong a ula o y speech abou he niece’s ac i e
ole in humani a ian aid once again alludes o an ac o supe io i y whe e he woman
had no di ec ela ion bu el as i she he sel had helped.
A he local g oce y s o e whe e Da ling wo ked, she el cons an ly us a ed
by he boss Jim who, in a way, ep esen s he Wes ’s igno ance and p e-concei ed
no ions o he con inen . She el o ended as he consis en ly alked o A ica as i i was
one coun y, e en hough she had al eady explained o him “i ’s a con inen wi h i y-
some coun ies o he han my own, I ha en’ eally been o he es o i o say wha is
wha ” (Bulawayo 255). This p o es how Bulawayo is delibe a ely c i icizing he
gene al misconcep ion abou A icans and he con inen . In he hi d and inal in e lude,
“How They Li ed”, his issue is also p esen ed.
Whe e he li e expec ancy is hi y- i e yea s? We smiled. Is i he e whe e
dissiden s sho e AK-47’s be ween women’s legs? We smile. Tha pa
whe e hey massac ed each o he ? We smiled. Is i whe e he old p esiden
igged he elec ion and people we e o u ed and killed and a whole bunch
o hem in p ison and all, whe e hey a e dying o chole a-oh my God, yes,
we’ e seen you coun y, i ’s been on he news” (Bulawayo 239-240)
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The smile is o cou se o annoyance and no o unde s anding, signi ying he
i ed eeling o ha ing o explain epea edly ha wha happens in some A ican
coun ies does no happen in he en i e con inen and wha is epo ed by he wes e n
media should no u n in o a p e-concei ed idea o who A icans a e.
Elio , ano he one o Da ling’s bosses a he housekeeping job, was a man
ascina ed wi h he A ican con inen and who “has a eled all o e A ica bu all he
can e e ell you abou he coun ies he has isi ed a e he animals and pa ks he has
seen” (Bulawayo 269). His in e es in A ica esembled ha o “an old-s yle colonial”
(A ne 158) and Da ling la e ealized ha i also ex ended o a ce ain obsession o he
A ican emale body, o which Aun Fos alina was a pe ec ca ego iza ion o i ,
acco ding o Elio . Howe e , wha in u ia ed Da ling e en mo e was Elio ’s daugh e ,
Ka e, who had an ea ing diso de and was s a ing he sel on pu pose o look beau i ul
o he boy iend. This knowledge made he p o agonis eel ex emely o ended o
such u ile p oblems.
Look a ound you, and you ha e all hese iches ha you don’ e en need;
ups ai s, you bed is i o a king; you go o Co nell, whe e you can be
any hing you wan ; you don’ e en ha e o clean up a e you sel because
I’m doing i o you, igh now; you ha e a dog whose wa d obe I couldn’
a o d; and, wha ’s mo e, you’ e he e, li ing in you own coun y o bi h,
so wha exac ly is you eal p oblem?” (Bulawayo 270)
Coming om a place whe e ood is sca ce and s a ing is no a choice bu
ine i able, she could no comp ehend how someone would no ea o he sake o
physical appea ance. Food is, in ac , an impo an and ecu ing mo i in We Need New
Names. Be o e lea ing o Ame ica, Da ling was con inced ha she would “be ea ing
eal ood” (Bulawayo 10), since she was going o a coun y o abundance. The idea o
hunge may ha e mul iple in e p e a ions o jus i y one o he many easons o Da ling’s
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depa u e. I is e iden ha i means physiological hunge , bu i also migh mean a
hunge o a new home, a new place, a new li e.
Howe e , his hunge is eplaced by a nos algia and a eeling o homesickness
as Da ling sees he Ame ican d eam become demys i ied. Al hough ood is no an issue
in he US, Da ling con esses ha “no ma e how much ood I ea , I ind he ood does
no hing o me, like I am hung y o my coun y and no hing is going o ix ha ”
(Bulawayo 153). The e o e, she begins o emembe he sel in Pa adise “whe e we a e
hung y bu we a e oge he and we a e a home and e e y hing is swee e han desse ”
(Bulawayo 206). Fu he mo e, when Da ling was alking wi h Chipo o e he phone she
go a “s ange ache in [he ] hea when Chipo ells he ha Sbho is ou side ea ing a
gua a” (Bulawayo 209). This aching nos algia leads Da ling o eel emp y, los and
almos en ying hose who emained back home. In addi ion o his, when Da ling
men ions abo e ha Ka e “[is] he e, li ing in [he ] own coun y o bi h, so wha
exac ly is [he ] eal p oblem?” (Bulawayo 270) she means ha i is a p i ilege she eels
she has been dep i ed o . This co obo a es he idea ha Da ling’s depa u e was in a
way o ced by he b u al condi ions Pa adise o e ed. Al hough he idealis ic image o
Ame ica eased he pain o abandoning he home, he demys i ica ion o ha image only
agg a a ed Da ling’s nos algia and sense o abandonmen . A one poin , Da ling’s
eelings make e e ence o Du Bois’ no ion o double consciousness, a common eeling
o he la es gene a ion o A ican immig an s: “I ’s ha d o explain, his eeling; i ’s like
he e’s wo o me” (Bulawayo 210). The ac ha con empo anei y is ma ked by
cons an mobili y means ha he meaning o home is now agmen ed hus collapsing
he concep o iden i y which is no cons uc ed by an a ilia ion wi h a single place
anymo e. This issue in oduces a new amewo k o unde s anding how ansna ional
subjec s such as Da ling cons uc a new iden i y in his new se ing and acqui e a

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“diaspo ic consciousness” (Zhou 186). This eeling o wo-ness is ano he miles one in
Da ling’s p ocess o ma u a ion, conside ing ha she has al eady ealized ha she does
no belong solely o one place and will, om now on, s uggle wi h wan ing o e u n
and o s ay. Bulawayo ies o demons a e how his consciousness is a challenge many
mig an s ace. Da ling, o example, when inally se led in he US, ound i di icul o
main ain a connec ion wi h hose she had le behind in Pa adise and e e y hing ha
made he eel a home. This di icul y was agg a a ed by eelings o melancholia and
nos algia as she ealized he hos land, al hough be e han whe e she came om, did
no ha e he iends and wi hou hem she el incomple e. The e o e, she is con on ed
wi h he eali y o displacemen ha is e y common in diaspo ic consciousness.
In ac , Da ling’s na a i e ollows a simila pa e n om o he immig an s who
ea u e Ame ican mig a ion na a i es. William Boelhowe , o example, s a es ha all
mig a ion na a i es, pa icula ly conce ning Ame ica, p o ide he same single s o y,
cons uc ed “on he U opian ounda ions, he ideal he o ic, o Ame ican cul u e”
(Boelhowe 6). Despi e he homogenei y e ealed by hese na a i es, he schola
cla i ies ha he collec i e expe ience o he immig an s has many a ian s ha can
esul in di e en plo s. None heless, all hese indi idual a ian s a e “no hing bu
homeomo phic ans o ma ions o a single mic o ex ” (Boelhowe 7).
Rega ding he “basic abula” (Boelhowe 7) om which immig an na a i es
de i e om, he main idea consis s o imagining o idealizing a New Wo ld, “ o he
d eam unc ion mo i a es much o he abula’s c ea i e ension and modula es i s
complexi y” (Boelhowe 8). The Ame ican D eam hus plays an impo an ole in he
p o agonis ’s mind and his o he ision will depend on he impac he Old Wo ld has
had. Essen ially, i he eali y p o ided by he Old Wo ld is nega i e hen d eaming
abou he New Wo ld will only become s onge . As soon as he p o agonis c osses he
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d eam h eshold, i he idealiza ion o he New Wo ld p o es o be ue hen he
memo y o he Old Wo ld will s a o ade. On he con a y, i he New Wo ld is no as
idealized by he p o agonis , hen memo ies om he Old Wo ld will equen ly appea .
Taking his in o conside a ion, i is impo an o unde s and how Da ling’s
na a i e ela es o his abula. Ini ially, he ha sh condi ions in which Da ling li es in
Pa adise o ce he o d eam abou he New Wo ld and he need o depa only g ows
s onge as he s o y p og esses. When she a i es o he US and begins o ealize he
d eam did no ma ch eali y, Da ling is o e whelmed by eelings o disappoin men ha
make he miss, in a way, he Old Wo ld and he li e she le behind.
O e all, Da ling’s s o y does no di e om he collec i e immig an
expe ience. Howe e , he na a i e may ha e allen in o his pa e n because Da ling’s
lack o expe ience and in o ma ion in A ica condi ioned he illusions o Ame ica. Jus
like he p e ious gene a ion o immig an s who c ossed he ocean o he unknown,
Da ling goes o a simila p ocess when she mo es o Ame ica. Al hough he s o y is se
on a ime whe e access o in o ma ion is gene ally a ailable, he condi ions on Pa adise
did no o e he he possibili y o know Ame ica. I she had lea ned how he d eam
di e ed om eali y, maybe she would no ha e wan ed o go o he US and he s o y
would ha e been much di e en .
Despi e he ac ha Da ling had di icul y in assimila ing in o Ame ican socie y,
she ied o lea n how o i in. Language is o cou se one o he mos impo an mo i s
in he no el and he p o agonis , balancing be ween he mo he ongue, Ndebele, and
English, ies o pe ec he Ame ican accen since she a i ed in he New Wo ld.
. . . he TV has augh me jus how o do i . I ’s p e y easy; all you ha e o
do is wa ch Do a he Explo e , The Simpsons, SpongeBob, Scooby-Doo,
and hen you mo e on o Tha ’s So Ra en, Glee, F iends, Golden Gi ls,
and so on, jus lis ening and imi a ing he accen s . . . I also ha e my lis o
Ame ican wo ds ha I keep unde he ongue like alismans, eady o use:
p e y good, pain in he ass, o eal, awesome, o ally, skinny, dude,
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eaking, biza e, psyched, messed up, like, ipping, mo he ucke ,
clea ance, allowance, douche bag, you’ e welcome, ac ing up, yikes.
(Bulawayo 194)
As Da ling began o sound Ame ican, as she in ended, he mas e y o he accen
was soon c i icized by he amily membe s and iends she egula ly con ac ed by phone
o Skype since i ep esen ed a disconnec ion o he oo s. Bo h he mo he : “He-he-he,
so you a e ying o sound whi e now!” (Bulawayo 204); and he iends: “ ha s upid
accen ha you we e no e en bo n wi h, ha doesn’ e en sui you” (Bulawayo 286)
judged Da ling’s assimila ion. In Pa adise, Da ling a ely spoke English and only did so
wi h o eign people, o ins ance, when she alked on he phone o a weal hy B i ish
amily whose house had been pillaged in Budapes . As she was alking o e he phone,
he iends we e no iceably jealous: “e e ybody is looking a me like I’m some hing”
(Bulawayo 131). When on he o he end o he line a man s a ed speaking Nbedele
Da ling i s laughed bu el “disappoin ed because [she] wan ed o keep speaking in
English” (Bulawayo 131). Da ling’s use o he English language became manda o y as
she mo ed o “Des oyedmichigen” and he luency inc eased.
Aun Fos alina, who had been li ing in Ame ica o longe , go us a ed wi h
he niece o becoming mo e p o icien han he . One pa icula inciden exempli ies he
ba ie be ween hese wo cha ac e s. One ime Fos alina was ying o explain, o e he
phone, o a Vic o ia’s Sec e salesgi l wha ype o b a she wan ed o o de and was no
being unde s ood. The main con lic o his scene lies in a me e linguis ic
misunde s anding. Fos alina, u ious and humilia ed, ied o make he accen clea :
“angel, angel, angel, Aun Fos alina says, aising he oice e en loude ” (Bulawayo
196). Despi e inding his scene unny, Da ling in e ened: “I silen ly mou h –enjel.
Enjel” (Bulawayo 197); which o cou se a ec ed he aun ’s p ide. As he salesgi l
emained disengaged and bo ed, Da ling ealized ha “ he p oblem wi h hose who
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speak only English is his: hey don’ know how o lis en: hey a e busy looking a you
alling ins ead o paying a en ion o wha you a e saying” (Bulawayo 196). Da ling
ended up eeling so y o he aun ’s shame as she kep “d agging ou he wo d like she
is aking g a el” and wa ching he “kno ed ace” (Bulawayo 197). O e all, a e aking
so long o p onounce one wo d, Fos alina’s goal was no o pu chase he i em anymo e,
bu o be unde s ood. The p oblem wi h language and ansla ion is also e iden wi h
o he cha ac e s such as Da ling’s uncle Kojo who also expe ienced his sense o wo-
ness much mo e s ongly. E e y ime he had he chance o speak “in his language ha
nobody unde s ands” (Bulawayo 152), he el like his A icanness esu aced o a
momen and hose sho momen s mean e e y hing o him. Acco ding o Da ling, “ he
p oblem wi h English is ha by he ime you ge o say he wo ds ou loud and ha e
hem sound igh . . . some hing s ange has happened o you” (Bulawayo 193).
Jus like hei niece, bo h Fos alina and Kojo had a ha d ime balancing a
agmen ed iden i y. Fos alina, on he one hand, was obsessed wi h he igu e, ying o
e ase he physical shape ha was a pa o he A ican iden i y and shaping i in o an
Ame ican one by exe cising in on o he TV bu a he same ime ea ing
compulsi ely. Aun Kojo’s degene a ion and s a e o dep ession and alcoholism, caused
by his son’s decision o join he US a my and igh in A ghanis an, made him numb o
his agmen ed iden i y, ha ing only lucid momen s when he was econnec ed wi h his
A ican oo s. Fo his olde gene a ion he concep o home is di ided in o h ee pa s:
“home be o e independence, be o e I was bo n . . . home a e independence . . . and
hen he home o hings alling apa , which made Aun Fos alina lea e and come [ o
Ame ica]” (Bulawayo 193). Fo Da ling he e a e wo homes: “ wo homes inside my
head: home be o e Pa adise and home in Pa adise, home one and home wo” (Bulawayo
193). Since she was s ill adap ing o li e in he US and due o he shock be ween wha
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emp iness is su ely no di ec ed owa ds he physical place bu a he he ela ionships
she had buil wi hin he communi y o Pa adise which made he happie han she was in
Ame ica. None heless, his o e whelming eeling o homesickness may be soo hed by
he li es yle Da ling cu en ly has in Ame ica which al hough i may no be he bes
acco ding o Wes e n s anda ds s ill is a be e li e han he li e she had back home.
Bulawayo does, in ac , lea e unanswe ed he ques ion o which op ion is bes
o an immig an who is ying o change he li e, eel whole and wi h he iden i y
in ac : o lea e home o o s ay. Conside ing he highly dange ous and uns able poli ical
powe o Da ling’s coun y, i she had chosen o s ay in Pa adise she would ha e
p obably su e ed om ei he an unsa iable hunge o om Mugabe’s mili an o ces.
Escaping o Ame ica o any o he place was no a mo e eliable op ion because al hough
he li e condi ions we e be e he abjec immig an had o gi e up his undamaged
iden i y and agmen i in o de o ea n a li ing. The e o e, bo h scena ios equi e he
enuncia ion o some hing.
As ini ially men ioned, he no el p esen s some ai s o he pica esque gen e in
o de o p oblema ize and in e oga e he A opoli an iden i y and i s na a i iza ion. To
sub e popula na a i es o success ul A opoli ans, his gen e b ings o ligh hose
who a e equen ly in he shadows hus c ea ing a new meaning o he A opoli an
expe ience. This new concep is ocused on he eali ies o p eca i y in a pos colonial
se ing. Th ough he powe ul oice o an unde p i ileged child, Bulawayo’s
econcep ualiza ion o he e m essen ially con eys he idea ha A ican mig an s can
also sha e an expe ience o auma, ailu e and disillusionmen . The e o e, We Need
New Names ein en s A opoli anism by p esen ing a cha ac e who s uggles wi h an
anxie y “o being A ican and cosmopoli an” (Gikandi 49) and ails o li e as a ci izen
o he wo ld (Gikandi 49).

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CONCLUSION
Cosmopoli anism has in oduced o he wo ld he concep o he educa ed
mobile ci izen who a els luidly and ca e ee h oughou he wo ld, un es ic ed by
cul u al and na ional bo de s. This Wes e nized in e p e a ion o he mobile subjec has
become an impo an opic o discussion in he e a o globaliza ion. In ellec uals such as
Taiye Selasi and Achille Mbembe, among many o he s who ollowed, ha e ied o
p esen a concep ha in oduces a new ci izen o he wo ld capable o in e sec ing
concep s o ace, e hnici y and na ionali y; hus c ea ing he idea o A opoli anism.
Selasi’s eading o he e m, as al eady discussed, is pe cei ed as no being so
di e en om he adi ional and eli is concep o cosmopoli anism, excep o he ac
ha , acco ding o he au ho , his new gene a ion o pos colonial cosmopoli ans a e
“beau i ul, b own-skinned people” (Selasi n.p.). Al hough he e a o globaliza ion has
gene a ed an inc ease o A icans’ mobili y, Selasi’s eading o cosmopoli anism
dis ega ds less p i ileged o ms o mobili y which ep esen “a mo e in he eye o
cosmopoli anism” (Gikandi 23) by “being ic ims o mode ni y, ailed by capi alism’s
upwa d mobili y, and be e o hese com o s and cus oms o na ional belonging”
(Pollock & al. 6), excluding he “ ejec s o ailed s a es” (Gikandi 23) om he ca ego y
o hose who can a o d luidi y ac oss bo de s.
Re iewing he ou main mo emen s ha we e discussed in he i s chap e
namely Pan-A icanism, Nég i ude, he New Neg o and Ga eyism i is impo an o
no e ha hei main co ela ion was no only he belie ha A icans and hei
descendan s wo ldwide sha ed he same his o y, same cul u al he i age and, o e all, he
same des iny, bu also he hope o achie e a “common iden i y, solida i y, secu i y and
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oneness wi h each o he and wi h A ica” (Wallace 71) o a cul u al e i aliza ion and
much dese ed digni y.
Conce ning Pan-A icanism and Ga eyism, e en hough bo h mo emen s
showed esul s as a socio and cul u al mo emen , hey did no achie e all hei
objec i es as a poli ical one. Conside ing ha he Pan-A icanis discou se had
essen ially been econside ed and ec ea ed se e al imes h ough he cou se o almos a
cen u y, i is e iden ha a he end o he 20 h cen u y i became c ucial o consolida e
he mo emen due o he appea ance o new discou ses which challenged s a ic no ions
o Blackness such as A opoli anism, globaliza ion, ansna ionalism, mul i acialism
and many o he s. Mbembe e en es ablished ha adi ional Pan-A icanism had become
“ossi ied” (Mbembe 2005) and “inc easingly less encompassing” (Mbembe 2005) wi h
A icans’ cu en li es yle. The e o e, he acknowledged he la e as:
a s ylis ic, an aes he ic and a ce ain poe ics o he wo ld. I is a way o
being in he wo ld ha e uses, in p inciple, any o m o ic im iden i y -
which does no mean ha i is no awa e o he injus ices and iolence
ha he law o he wo ld has in lic ed on his con inen and i s people. I
is also a poli ical and cul u al s ance wi h espec o he na ion, ace and
he ques ion o di e ence in gene al. To he ex en ha ou s a es a e
pu e in en ions ( ecen , mo eo e ), hey ha e, s ic ly speaking, no hing
in hei essence ha obliges us o wo ship hem - which does no mean
ha we a e indi e en o hei a e. (Mbembe 2005)
I is ce ainly implied ha he A opoli anism discou se does ha e simila i ies o
i s p edecesso . Howe e , he e a e a ious opinions conce ning he ela ion be ween
he wo discou ses. On he one hand, he e a e hose who es ablish no co ela ion
wha soe e be ween hem and claim hey a e in ac mu ually exclusi e, like Mbembe,
o example, while on he o he hand, i is commonly accep ed ha Pan-A icanism and
A opoli anism can complemen each o he and a e in sync, as Minna Salami de ends
by s a ing ha “A opoli anism, pan-A icanism and diaspo a a e he e o e syne ge ic”
(Salami 2015).
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Rega ding bo h ideologies, while he o me is a mo e poli ical ma e in he
sense ha i ough agains social opp ession and domina ion, he la e ela es o he
sea ch o an iden i y and a connec ion o he con inen which A icans who li e ac oss
he wo ld s uggle wi h inding. In ha sense, A opoli anism does p omo e uni y bu i
is mo e a sense o solida i y ha only “indi iduals who sha e simila in e na ional
expe iences bu who main ain ‘an idea o A ica’ a he cen e o hei expe iences”
(Khonje n.p.) can ela e o. Based on his p emise, A opoli anism e e s o a way o
A icans and hose o A ican o igin o unde s and hemsel es “as being pa o he
wo ld a he han being apa ” (Mbembe and Balak ishnan 29).
The issue o ace is also ex emely ele an o his deba e. Acco ding o
Mbembe, bo h mo emen s can be dis inguished due o he ac ha Pan-A icanism, by
p omo ing acial uni y, was aken o a acial ideology ha led o a w ong s e eo ype:
‘All A icans a e Black’. The e a e A icans who a e no Black and Black indi iduals
who do no ha e any connec ion o A ica. A opoli anism, in con as , ies o
anscend acial bo de s, ecognizing mul iple o igins and es ablishing ha he i age is “a
bi mo e han jus biological o acial” (Mbembe and Balak ishnan 30). The e o e,
cu en A ican discou se on iden i y consis s o cul u al di e si y and mul iplici y. The
ac ha Pan-A icanism “[speaks] o his con inen only in mode o black people
solida i y becomes un enable” (Mbembe 2005).
As ini ially de e mined in he in oduc ion, he main pu pose o his disse a ion
is o unde s and how Ame icanah and We Need New Names pe cei e he concep o
A opoli anism h ough he na a i iza ion o wo diaspo ic iden i ies and whe he he
no els may be conside ed A opoli an. Despi e he ac ha he p o agonis s’ p ocess o
psychological and iden i y de elopmen was analyzed sepa a ely, i is now impo an o
p oceed o a compa ison be ween he main cha ac e s, I emelu and Da ling, o answe
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his in e oga ion. Assessing hei simila i ies and di e ences will be undamen al o
comp ehend i he e a e mo e in e p e a ions o A opoli anism and i bo h no els can
ela e o hem.
Fi s ly, he main di e ence be ween he wo cha ac e s conce ns hei age gap.
I emelu’s li e jou ney begins when she is al eady a ma u e 18-yea -old gi l p epa ed o
a end uni e si y and conside ing ha she has li ed o hi een yea s in he Uni ed
S a es, she is a ma u e woman in he 30s when she decides o e u n o Nige ia. In
opposi ion, Da ling is en yea s old in he beginning o he no el and is mos likely
a ound 15 o 16 yea s old when she is in Ame ica. This di e ence in age is undamen al
because i in luences hei jou ney and p ocess o ma u a ion. On he one hand, since
I emelu had al eady ma u ed in Lagos and gone h ough a ious lea ning p ocesses,
when she mo es o he US she mus lea n how o be a Black woman in a Wes e n
socie y. Howe e , his cha ac e goes h ough wo mo e lea ning p ocesses, namely
( e)lea ning o be A ican, when, o example, I em decides no o pe ec he Ame ican
accen anymo e and especially when she accep s he na u al kinky hai ; and lea ning o
be A opoli an, which happens when I em e u ns o Lagos and ealizes he iden i y
would ine i ably be bo h A ican and Ame ican om now on. On he o he hand,
Da ling is a e y imp essionable child and e e y hing is new o he . In Ame ica, she
mus deal wi h he nego ia ion o wo places, Ame ica and Pa adise, and wo dis inc
meanings o belonging ha agmen he iden i y. Conside ing ha Da ling’s s o y lacks
closu e, he o ma ion is s ill an ongoing p ocess.
Secondly, hei backg ound is also impo an because i in luences no only he
cha ac e s’ eason o lea e hei homeland, bu also how he p ocess o in eg a ing in o
he hos land is ea ed. I emelu belonged o an u ban middle-class amily and led an
o dina y li e. Lagos, howe e , was going h ough a ime o poli ical un es and all
126
educa ion acili ies we e being shu down on s ike. This made I emelu u ge o lea e he
ci y in sea ch o a be e li e and a be e educa ion o e all, hus depa ing o Ame ica
on a s uden ’s isa. In con as , Da ling li ed in e ible and unhuman condi ions o
ex eme po e y be o e mo ing o Ame ica. These condi ions and he poli ical
dic a o ship uling o e he coun y we e mo e han enough easons o Da ling o s a
an asizing abou o he places. Rega ding his issue, i is impo an o add ha I emelu
does no ha e such un ealis ic images o Ame ica and how he li e as a mig an would
be. This alludes once again o he ma u i y and awa eness o how he wo ld wo ks.
Da ling, o ins ance, d eams cons an ly and idealizes how he li e in Ame ica would
be, eeling con iden abou he success ul li e she would lead. This nai e e is o cou se
expec ed o a child who had no hing else o hold on bu d eams.
Conce ning he i s imp ession when a i ing in he hos land, I emelu is
ins an ly o e whelmed by how he looks, accen and colo o he skin a e judged by a
whi e-o ien ed socie y which compel he o change and adap o he s anda ds o his
socie y by s aigh ening he kinky hai and p ac icing a lawless Ame ican accen . This
p ocess o assimila ion happens a a much deepe le el han Da ling and i is impo an
o no e how I em decides o e u n o he olde sel la e in he plo . Da ling’s i s
imp ession when a i ing o De oi , Michigan is o shock wi h he wea he . The sha p
coldness and he ne e -ending snow made Da ling eel unwelcome o his o eign land.
None heless, she is also a ic im o acial s a i ica ion and opp ession, mainly
conce ning he appea ance and accen as well. Howe e , his cha ac e ’s p ocess o
assimila ion is no so deeply oo ed in o he iden i y as I emelu which is o be expec ed
conside ing ha she is s ill oo young.
In he hos land, hese cha ac e s eel and beha e di e en ly ega ding hei
connec ion wi h home. A e a auma ic expe ience o sexual abuse, I emelu eels

127
dep essed and abandoned in he US and cu s all ies wi h Lagos, specially wi h he
childhood lo e , Obinze, o whom she had p omised o main ain a long-dis ance
ela ionship. A e yea s o ep essing e e y hing conce ning he homeland, I emelu is
s uck by a “yea ning so acu e i mo phs in o homesickness” (Phi i 14) and ha eeling
is wha makes he e u n. Da ling, o ins ance, is equen ly ying o be in ouch wi h
he iends and amily in Pa adise. Howe e , Da ling eels cons an ly sad ha he
idealized li e in Ame ica has been sha e ed and does no wan anyone back home o
know she was no being success ul. This shame and aching homesickness clea ly weigh
down on his cha ac e despi e he ac ha he li e in he US is conside ably be e han
he ex eme po e y Pa adise o e ed. When he iends complained o he abou how
hings we e s ill bad in hei neighbo hood, Da ling el s ange o hose p oblems, since
she only had access o hem h ough Wes e n media which agg a a ed he sense o
unbelonging o he oo s. In addi ion o his, Da ling ealized ha e u ning o Pa adise
migh ne e be an op ion, al hough she wan ed o, bu conside ing he s a us as an
illegal immig an she would be banished om coming back o he US e e again.
O e all, a some poin in Ame icanah and We Need New Names bo h cha ac e s eel
o n be ween hei homeland and hos land and a e o e whelmed by a double-
consciousness. I emelu is he only one ha does in ac e u n o he o igins while
Da ling’s a e is le open a he end o he na a i e, lea ing i o he eade o decide i
she migh someday e u n o no .
Accused o being a “po e y-po n” no el, We Need New Names is o cou se
e y di e en han Ame icanah since Bulawayo pu posely in okes nega i e s e eo ypes
o he A ican con inen and o A icans in o de o decons uc and expose o he
pos colonial na a i es ha ecycle hese p e-concei ed images o he sake o Wes e n
consump ion. Adichie, in con as , p esen s an A ica ha o e s insigh on cul u al
128
hyb idi y and iden i y, demons a ing how A ican immig an s who sea ch o and
de ine ha same iden i y in a space whe e hey a e ma ginalized lea n how o accep a
double consciousness. None heless, much like Bulawayo, Ame icanah also applies
in en ionally a s e eo ype in o de o make a c i ique. Al hough I emelu began ejec ing
some aspec s o he Ame ican way o li e, she belonged o a Black eli e o in ellec uals
ha ce ainly ma ched Selasi’s desc ip ion o polished and well-manne ed A opoli ans.
In Lagos, Adichie once again in oduces his s e eo ype when I emelu a ends he
Nige poli an club mee ings, which made he eel uncom o able o ag eeing and also
judging wha o he e u nees el abou coming back home. By showing hese mee ings,
Adichie was clea ly c i icizing he idea o “A icans o he wo ld” ha she was
associa ed o and which she comple ely ejec ed. The e usal o his label is also e iden
h ough Obinze, whose s o y decons uc s he illusion ha A opoli anism consis s only
o s o ies o success such as I em’s. The ac ha I emelu and Obinze’s na a i es,
being one o success and he o he o ailu e, p esen di e en in e p e a ions o wha i
means o be an A opoli an shows how Adichie does no belie e in an eli is and limi ed
e sion o he e m. Bulawayo also e hinks he concep o A opoli anism by no
p esen ing a s o y o success. Al hough Da ling’s na a i e is he main plo , hose who
a e p esen ed in he h ee in e ludes also wen h ough di icul ies in hei jou ney as
immig an s. Being he opposi e o wha A opoli ans gene ally a e de ined as, We Need
New Names c ea es an al e na e desc ip o based on collec i e expe iences o sha ing
he ha dships o a mig an ’s li e.
In gene al, A opoli anism is in e sec ional o geog aphy, iden i y, cul u e,
gende and ace, ejec ing any bond be ween he A ican iden i y and a speci ic loca ion,
hus decons uc ing he p econcei ed no ion o a singula iden i y. Re isi ing wha was
analyzed on chap e I, being A opoli an means emb acing cul u al hyb idi y, belonging
129
e e ywhe e and o A ica a he same ime. Al hough A opoli anism is a mul i alen
concep i ce ainly has no consolida ed enough. Howe e , conside ing all he
in e p e a ions ha we e analyzed in his disse a ion, i can be asse ed ha he e is
mo e han one iable eading o Ame icanah and We Need New Names. Essen ially,
bo h no els po ay pe sonali ies ha combine he “he e and elsewhe e, he p esence o
he elsewhe e in he he e and ice e sa” (Mbembe 229). Mbembe’s pe spec i e, o
example, is applicable o bo h na a i es since i pe cei es his concep as a li es yle, a
way o ela e wi h he wo ld and as a undamen al piece in designa ing he p ocesses o
mobili y and cul u al usion which ha e been shaping A ican communi ies and
iden i ies. His concep o a ee and luid ci cula ion o wo lds sui s he p o agonis s’
na a i es because hey a e indeed li ing in a global illage whe e na ional ba ie s a e
becoming mo e dilu ed and easie o c oss. Conce ning Mbembe’s a o emen ioned
quo e, Minna Salami’s app oach can also be ela able in he sense ha she belie es
A opoli anism o be a “glocal” (Salami n.p.) space, hus in e ela ing an A opoli an’s
global iden i y wi h his/he local sel . Chielozona Eze’s eading may be he mos
pe inen o his deba e, conside ing ha he belie es iden i y o be “ ela ional” (Eze 235)
and ha many A icans a e “A i-hyphena ed” (Eze 235) nowadays. In his poin o
iew, an A opoli an’s iden i y is no only bound o A ica and is in cons an
de elopmen . Jus like I emelu needed o accep ha she was an amalgama ion o wo
cul u es, an Ame icanah, o span “he sel in o being” (Adichie 586), Eze de e mined
ha A icans’ hyb idi y and dual pe sonali y should be conside ed as mul iple pa s ha
complemen each o he o o m a whole. Da ling, howe e , has no ully unde s ood ha
he exis ence is also hyphena ed because she is s ill going h ough a de eloping s age.
None heless, he spli iden i y becomes e iden when she begins missing home bu a
he same ime enjoys he li e in he US. Las ly, Gikandi’s iewpoin ein o ces he idea
130
ha his young gene a ion o A icans is no ci cumsc ibed by any speci ic place,
al hough i implies an ongoing nego ia ion ha can lead o a oubled sel . To conclude,
he analysis o he wo no els sugges s ha a wide in e p e a ion o A opoli anism, as
de ended by Mbembe, Eze, Salami and Gikandi, allows hem o be encompassed wi hin
he desc ip o because hey ha e c ea ed new na a i es ha depic con empo a y
A ican mobili y in o de o show how A opoli ans manage a agmen ed iden i y and
y o ake ad an age o c ea ing cul u al b idges ac oss he wo ld.
137
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