Bordering on Belonging
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Bordering On Belonging
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Literature
Words By: Siham Ali
Artwork: Amélie Brunot
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Bordering on Belonging: Through the lens of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Americanah'
The tangible feeling of belonging is often an arduous one to come by, and for many, almost unattainable. To be able to call a place home, to truly be accepted, affirmed and above all understood is but a privilege in many parts of the world. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie provides a novel built upon the foundation of satire, one that comments on race, identity, alienation, and self-invention. We are taken on a thorough journey of self-discovery - and by the end of the novel we arrive at our chosen safe destination. The Orange prizewinner explores the literal and metaphorical sense of coming home with Americanah (2013) – the pull and tug of two distinct worlds that usurp different parts of her protagonist, Ifemelu’s identity. Indeed, as the strong and beautiful Ifemelu tries to find her place in modern day America, we can’t help but walk hand in hand, alongside her in our own journey of becoming.
Adichie lends a rich and truthful insight into the immigrant experience once Ifemelu leaves Nigeria for the promised land of America, and her lover Obinze moves to England to live a fulfilled life, post-grad. Both characters face immense hardships in the West, including racism, depression, joblessness, and alienation. But the need to escape from Nigeria’s ‘oppressive lethargy of choicelessness’ is what initially spurs them on to fight the good fight. The issues raised in Americanah are effectively interwoven with modern day experiences – particularly the everyday struggle to stay afloat amongst the weighing pressures of money, rent, and declining mental health. Adichie craftily explores how your social environment can form you whilst also eliminating all that you are; how it can birth fractured identities and produce a feeling of ‘borderlessness’, one that consists of ‘amorphous longings, shapeless desires.’
Ultimately, Ifemelu’s search for a place in America leads her to become a perspicacious blogger who wittingly examines American Culture. Her blog titled Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black. The medium of writing becomes Ifemelu’s coping mechanism, as she legitimises her status as an outsider - as the Other. Adichie wanted to ‘’poke fun’’ at the frequent encounters faced by migrants in the USA. She allows Ifemelu to take ownership of her misfortunes in America, which eventually leads her to become a prominent and successful blogger. Regardless, she stands on the fringe of belonging – and whilst the metaphysical world of the Internet gives her a momentary feeling of acceptance, she is forcefully reminded that in the real world, America ‘’ultimately chooses who you are.’’
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Last year Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging (2018) recalls that Britain has ‘’never allowed [her] to feel that [this] is where [she] belong[s]’’ regardless of her countless achievements, Oxbridge education and British nationality. Hirsch combines the personal with the political and carries out an extensive self-evaluation to ask important questions about privilege, Britishness and how we come to be who we are. Hirsch’s study around the crisis of identity is one that we can all benefit from reading – whether you feel you belong in the country you’re living in, or not. Adichie and Hirsch’s work signify that the human consciousness can never be poked enough; we all owe it to ourselves to learn more about the difficulty of belonging, particularly in a country that is overtly hostile.
Subsequently, Ifemelu’s decision to permanently return to Nigeria after a 15-year stint in America is the novel’s breakthrough moment. She has finally succumbed to the unyielding longing for her motherland, ‘the only place she could sink her roots in without the constant urge to tug them out and shake off the soil.’’ The entire novel is structured around this pivotal moment, Ifemelu will return to her beloved Obinze, her family, and her life as an Americanah. Her return home is an outright rejection of all that she was forced to be in America, a chameleon that felt she had to relax her hair in order to be employable and ‘’look professional’’, adopt an American accent to be taken seriously and have others decide whether she is ‘’American African’’ or ‘’African American.’’ The idea of dislocation leaves a lasting impression – because even Ifemelu's career, boyfriend Blaine, and her friends cannot prevent her from returning to Nigeria. Ultimately she is hungry to ''see a place made whole again’’ where she is not just a black woman, she is simply Ifemelu.
The process of becoming is a long and altering road. We’re all on the same journey of finding our place in the world. But finding your home, where you can unapologetically be yourself is the key message here. Americanah has paved the way to a better understanding of how we can be better allies to one another, how important it is to be compassionate for other’s experiences and how different and difficult life can be for those who journey to another country for a better life. It is a novel that reveals the complicated and painful journey for those who feel they are bordering on belonging - to compromise your identity to fit in, and then be spat out again.
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Words by: Siham Ali, 20th March 2019
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