“New Words Were Falling Out of Her Mouth”: Language and Identity in C. N. Adichie’s “Americanah”

Abstract

With her worldwide acclaimed novel Americanah (2013) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie crosses the national boundaries of both Nigerian and American literatures, by focusing on the concept of identity and belonging in a transcultural context. Her books, together with the ones of an entire generation of young transnational writers, call for new theoretical paradigms, in order to better understand the literary works that emerged from the contemporary “contact zones” between cultures. This paper aims to discuss in which ways Americanah contributes to this wider debate, questioning the controversial discourse on “Afropolitanism.” A close analysis of the protagonist’s concern for identity and the writer’s peculiar use of English language will show Adichie’s efforts to shape and challenge the novel form through a personal “translingual practice.”