An Immigrant Black Woman in America: An Intersectional Analysis of Adichie’s Americanah

Abstract

[Abstract] Americanah is a novel written by the renowned author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was first published in 2013 and it deals with Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman who voluntarily emigrates to the United States in order to look for a better prospect of life. There she encounters different forms of racial, gender and class oppression. This is the reason why the present BA thesis is devoted to discuss Ifemelu’s experiences in America from an intersectional perspective. In the first section I will present a theoretical framework in which I am going to deal with African American history, since the relation between them has existed for centuries and has evolved across time until our days, shaping the identity of African Americans. I will also cover the consideration of the book as an Afropolitan novel, because some critics think that Americanah perfectly depicts the spirit of Afropolitanism. Lastly, I will analyze how the concept of race as a social construct has evolved and how it interacts with notions such as gender and class (intersectionality). In what regards the second section, it is devoted to the close reading and analysis of the intersections presented in the novel. In order to do this, I will focus on the protagonist of the story. Ifemelu is oppressed by multiple factors that perpetuate male chauvinism, racism and classism. She is limited, in this way, by roles that serve the interest of others and determine black women’s life. This context will enable us to explore how black beauty is used to oppress black women, particularly, by using hair and skin color; how intersectionality functions in interracial relationships between a black woman and a wealthy white man and, last but not least, how black women’s work experiences are limited, for these women are often subjected to discriminatory practices that perpetuate the privileges of the dominant class. The aforementioned analysis will help us see how, in Adichie’s Americanah, Ifemelu confronts the reality of immigration and the triple oppression to which black migrant women are subjected in the United States. This oppression affects all instances of her life and demonstrates that discrimination is multidimensional or, to use a more specific terminology, intersectional.