Americanah

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009)

Americanah is a 2013 novel by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie . The German translation of the same name was published in April 2014. The storyline is based on the experiences of two young Nigerians who emigrated during the military dictatorship under Sani Abacha and who return to Nigeria years later. The title refers to the term used in Nigeria for returnees from the USA. The novel addresses racism, alienation, the emotional bond to home and family and is at the same time a love story.

Adichie, who had previously received prestigious literary prizes, received the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for her third novel and was nominated for the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction . Americanah was named one of the Top Ten Novels of 2013 by the critics of the New York Times Book Review . In 2015, this novel was chosen by the BBC's selection of the best 20 novels from 2000 to 2014 as one of the most important works of this century to date.

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The novel goes back to the 1990s: Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love with each other during their school days. However, given the living conditions under the ruling military dictatorship, both decide to leave Nigeria. It is not poverty or war conditions that force them to emigrate, but the depressing impossibility of realizing their own dreams under fair conditions.

Ifemelu receives a scholarship that allows her to study in the USA. However, she is not allowed to work legally: During her college studies, she can only survive with illegal work in a country where her skin color is important for the first time.

“I came from a country where race didn't matter. I had never seen myself as black. I didn't become black until I came to America. If you're black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn't matter as long as you are alone with your loved one. But as soon as you step out the door, race becomes important. But we don't talk about it. We don't tell our white partner about all the little things that just annoy us or the things that we wish they could understand better. We do not say anything because we worry that they will tell us that we are overreacting or that we are too sensitive. "

In the United States, she first has to learn that being black has a political-social meaning here, is associated with a lack of success, is at the bottom of the race, and black women straighten their hair with straightening irons and chemical agents to get away from the mainstream to be accepted. The novel begins with a drive to a run-down neighborhood in Princeton , the only place in the city where women can have their hair braided the African way.

The relationship between Ifemelu and Obinze initially survived the separation. Only when Ifemelu is forced to prostitute herself in her material need, she breaks off contact with Obinze. A love affair with a white man ultimately gives Ifemelu the green card , which enables her to work legally. She is best known for her blog: In "Raceteenth - or A Few Observations of Black Americans (formerly known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black", she addresses the everyday racism she experiences. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses this to comment on subliminal racism in the United States in short essays , such as the following, in which she again takes up hairstyle as a metaphor for racism:

Michelle Obama (2013) with straightened hair

“White girlfriend and I are Michelle Obama groupies. I said to her the other day that I was wondering if Michelle Obama had her hair braided, her hair looks fuller today and all the heat every day must have damaged her hair. And she says - you mean her hair doesn't grow like that? So, is that me or isn't that the perfect metaphor for racism here in America? Hair. Ever thought about these shows where they completely overtake someone on TV: How the black women in the ugly “before” photo always have natural hair (frizzy, frizzy, wiry, twisted or curly) and in the cute “after” photo they have someone with them ironed your hair straight with a hot iron? And how some black women, whether African American or immigrant African, would rather walk the street naked than show their natural hair in public? Because it's not professional, cultivated, whatever, at least because it's not normal. "

Despite her success as a blogger, Ifemelu ultimately decides to return to Nigeria, even though she seems to have achieved the American dream of a lifetime.

Obinze, son of a Nigerian professor, originally planned to join Ifemelu and also study in the United States. However, the changed immigration conditions after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 make this impossible for him. He goes to Great Britain on a tourist visa, goes underground there and experiences all the brutality and insecurity of such a life. With a borrowed social security card from a friend (“We all look the same to white people”) he cleans warehouses and toilets. When he wants to enter into a marriage of convenience in order to secure his right to stay, he is arrested in front of the registry office and finally deported. He seems to be returning to Nigeria as a loser. However, a chain of coincidences allows him to become successful as a developer of building land. Ifemelu and Obinze finally find each other again.

Reviews

Americanah , which was so positively received by critics and reading audiences in the USA, also received mostly positive reviews in several well-known German-language daily newspapers and magazines. In her review for the news magazine Der Spiegel, Hannah Pilarczyk described the work as an exceptional novel, called the character Ifemelu a protagonist who was coherent down to the smallest detail and found Adichie's novel to be a more successful work than Taiye Selasi's recently published novel These things don't just happen , the similarly addresses the life of the so-called Afropolitans. Ijoma Mangold is similarly positive in his time criticism. He speaks of Adichie developing the plot with admirable brilliance. Dana Buchzik, however, sees Adichie's novel more critically in her review for the Süddeutsche: The inserted blog entries are tiring in the long run, Adichie's sociological-critical view is overdone:

“Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's third novel, […] is bursting with astute analyzes, but suffers from its thematic ambitions. The 36-year-old author takes up so much content that she can only do justice to a few: Post-colonial discourses, the power of the Christian faith in Nigeria, depression, Lagos Girls, corrupt journalists, feminism, military dictatorship and economic fraud, weaknesses in the education system, suicide attempt Family member, everyday racism, love and betrayal, and last but not least the hypocrisy of contemporary literature. "

Katharina Granzin sees in her overall positive review, which appeared in the "Tageszeitung", a proximity to lifestyle literature, but at the same time points out that black American lifestyle literature is something new. For them, the success of the novel, which put Donna Tartt's hyped novel The Goldfinch in second place in the National Book Critics Circle Award, is also an indication of how American society has changed under the presidency of Barack Obama .

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Reviews and interviews

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  1. ↑ Subashini Navaratnam: Race in America Is a Central Character in 'Americanah' . In: PopMatters . August 9, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  2. ↑ Kirsten Reach: NBCC finalists announced . In: Melville House Books . January 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  3. ↑ Mark Brown: Donna Tartt heads Baileys women's prize for fiction 2014 shortlist . In: The Guardian . April 7, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  4. ^ New York Times: The 10 Best Books of 2013 . In: The New York Times , December 4, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2014. 
  5. ^ Adichie: Americanah , Harper Collins Publishers, London 2013, ISBN 9780007306220 , p. 276. In the original, Adichie speaks of the oppressive lethargy of choicelessness .
  6. ^ Adichie: Americanah , Harper Collins Publishers, London 2013, ISBN 9780007306220 , p. 291. The original quote is: I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn't matter when you're alone togehter because it's just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matters. But we don't talk about it. We don't even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off and the things we wish they understood better, because we're worried they will say we're overreacting, or we're being too sensitive.
  7. ↑ Stefanie Reuter: Becoming a Subject: Developing a Critical Consciousness and Coming to Voice in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah . In: Anja Oed (Ed.): Reviewing the Past, Negotiating the Future: The African Bildungsroman . 2015 ( ssrn.com ).
  8. ^ Adichie: Americanah , Harper Collins Publishers, London 2013, ISBN 9780007306220 , p. 296. The original quote is: White Girlfriend and I are Michelle Obama Groupies. So the other day I say to her - I wonder if Michelle Obama has a weave, her hair looks fuller today, and all that heat every day must damage. And she says - you mean her hair doesn't grow like that? So isit me or is that the perfect metaphor for race in America right there? Hair. Ever notice makeover shows on TV, how the black woman has natural hair (coarse, coily, kinky, or curly) in the ugly "before" picture and in the pretty "after" picture, somebody's taken a hot piece of metal and singed her hair straight? Some black women, AB and NAB, would rather run naked in the street than come out in public with their natural hair. Because, you see, it's not professional, sophisticated, whatever, it's just not damn normal.
  9. ^ Adichie: Americanah , Harper Collins Publishers, London 2013, ISBN 9780007306220 , p. 120.
  10. ↑ culture page of the mirror: exceptional novel "Americanah": Once USA and back , accessed on June 25, 2014
  11. ↑ The time of May 24, 2014: I am not black. , accessed June 25, 2014
  12. ↑ Süddeutsche from June 4, 2014: What color is actually skin color ?: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie , accessed on June 25, 2014
  13. ↑ Sisterlocks or Microbraids? , taz , May 31, 2014, accessed June 26, 2014
  14. ↑ Pit in the translator database of the VdÜ , 2019