[In honor of my
about-to-conclude grad
class on Analyzing 21st Century America, a series on great
recent literary works, with the same Af Am lit through-line that I brought to
the class!]
Two of the many
reasons why Americanah (2013) is on the short list of most important 21st
century American novels to date.
Part of me feels
that the best use to which I could put this post on Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah would
be simply to implore you to go out and read it as soon as possible. I’m not
promising that you’ll love it as much as I do—I know at least one
AmericanStudier’s madre who was not particularly blown away by it, and of
course as the Romans knew de
gustibus non est disputandum—but I believe I can promise that you’ll find
it a unique novel that’s as engaging and readable as it is important and
innovative, a page-turner that’s also literary fiction of the highest order. So
first and foremost, check it out, and if and when you do—or if you’ve already
read it and have thoughts on it right now—please share your review and
perspective in comments!
Without spoiling
any specific aspects of Adichie’s novel, however (a great deal of the pleasure
lies in discovering her characters, plots, and themes), I do want to make the
case here for two particular elements that make the novel as important as it
is. The more obvious element, and a vital part of Adichie’s novel in every
sense, is its transnational,
dual settings of Nigeria and America. It’s not just that Adichie’s novel offers
a fresh and compelling take on the immigrant experience (although it does), or
on the relationship between old and new worlds for its characters (although
ditto), or on cultural and ethnic hybridity (yup), or on the fraught
relationship between Africans and African Americans (definitely). It’s that
she’s written a novel that is deeply reflective of, influenced by, and
contributing to our understanding and conversations about both Nigeria and
America, two widely distinct worlds that she treats as distinct yet also brings
together in potent and convincing ways. I know few other novels that have been
able to pull off those joint feats for any two cultures, feats which are so
crucial to our fraught global moment, and Adichie’s success there makes her
novel hugely impressive and important.
If Americanah is very much of its 21st
century moment in its settings and themes, I would argue that it is perhaps
even more contemporary in one of its key stylistic elements. Ifemelu, Adichie’s
female protagonist, creates a popular blog entitled “Raceteenth or Various
Observations about American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a
Non-American Black,” and Adichie intersperses blog entries of hers throughout
and alongside the more conventionally narrated sections of the novel. These
blog entries allow Adichie to create a multi-vocal and –perspectival narration
and text in a way that feels fresh and engaging, and at the same time to engage
specifically and compellingly with questions of digital voice, identity,
community, and conversation, and how those do and don’t line up with our more
private identities and relationships. It goes without saying that I’m a pretty
natural audience for any novel that makes use of blogging in these layered and
thoughtful ways, but I believe the questions and forms that this stylistic
element allows Adichie to include would be of interest to any and all 21st
century readers. A great deal has been made, rightly, of the uniquely 21st
century style that Junot Díaz invented for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008), but I would say that Adichie’s
version is just as unique and successful, and one more reason why I’m thankful
for her must-read novel.
Next 21C text
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Other recent literary works you’d highlight?
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