Disillusionment and self re-invention in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s <i>Americanah</i>

Abstract

The Nigerian immigrant like other migrants “straddles between two stools” (Rushdie: 1982) and therefore lives in limbo and restiveness. This essay explores tapestries of displaced Nigerian migrants going through culture shock, racial indignities, social  conundrum, disenchantment and self transformation. The essay holds that in spite of the harrowing experiences of adjusting and readjusting, the Nigerian diaspora is a  complex combinatorial quest that is sweet and sour, that subjects and uplifts, debases and elevates. In this binary co-mingling of migrant experiences of Nigerian and  Euro-American spaces, the essay argues that despite the unrest in Nigeria as a post  colony, there will be continuous dispersals. However, return migration is necessary  because home is a compelling force.

Keywords: Migration, Culture Shock, Ethnocentricism, Stereotypes, Survival, Return Migration, Home.