Title:   THE GRASS IS NOT ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE: REVISITING MIGRANT NARRATIVE IN ADICHIE’S AMERICANAH

Abstract
The phenomenon of human migration, otherwise known as Westward movement in search of greener pastures in continental Europe and America, has continued to gain copious expressions in both literary and non-literary discourse across disciplines. Writers from erstwhile European colonies like the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Africa among others have artistically documented fictional experiences of migrant characters, all of whom are portrayed to have embarked on desperate journeys as the viable escapement from the protracted economic woes and political instabilities of their respective countries of origin. In most fictional narratives, the rippling effects of neo-colonialism, neo-slavery which directly translated into total disillusionment with the postcolonial states, have been identified as the triple stimuli for such migrations. One such narrative that hinges on the migrant-status of individual character(s) is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. Using postcolonial literary theory, this paper argues that the lingering effects of colonialism have amplified the alleged emptiness of most colonies thus, succeeds in the pristine projection of the West as utopia in the minds and psyches of many immigrants. This tendency has successfully lured migrant characters to continental Europe and America where lives turn out to be a mirage and a direct opposite of what they envisioned back home.
Keywords: Migration, Americanah, Neo-slavery, Neo-colonialism, Narrative, Postcolonial, Adichie.

Citations:

Publication Date: 2022-03-03