Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo; Edith Awogu-Maduagwu

doi:doi:10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

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Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo, Edith Awogu-Maduagwu

Published in Science Development (Volume 2, Issue 3)

Received: 27 January 2021 Accepted: 6 February 2021 Published: 31 August 2021

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Abstract

Migratory movements of Africans to the West in recent times have led to the evolvement of the new African diaspora, distinct from the old that emerged in the immediate post-transatlantic slavery era, but with both comparable in number of those involved and scope. Lived experience’s implication in new identity construct of migrants leads to this text-based exploration of how first generation male and female African migrants in Bulawayo’s We Need New Names and Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers reflect Africanity. The selected texts, which are depictions of recent African diaspora experience, are analyzed using postcolonial concepts of ‘otherness’, ‘subalternity’ and Stuart Hall’s notion of ‘cultural identity’. The outcome of the relocation of many African migrants to the West is the expression of their Africanity in distinct ways. As postcolonial subjects, contemporary African migrants have found themselves at the ‘Centre’ where the reality of their racialization and essentialization have grave consequences on their identities thereby rendering them ‘unwhole’ Africans.

Published in	Science Development (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14
Page(s)	49-56
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

African Diaspora, Africanity, Centre, Identity, Lived Experience, Migration

References

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[4]	Bulawayo, NoViolet. (2014). We Need New Names. New York: Vintage Books.
[5]	Falola, Toyin. (2013). The African Diaspora: Slavery, Modernity, and Globalization. New York: University of Rochester Press.
[6]	Falola, Toyin & Oyebade, Adebayo. (2017). The New African Diaspora in the United States. New York: Routledge.
[7]	Frassinelli, Pier Paolo (2015). “Living in Translation: Borders, Language and Community in NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names”. Journal of Postcolonial Writing 51 (6): 711-722. Doi: 10.10801/17449855.2015.1105855.
[8]	Gilroy, Paul. (1993). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
[9]	Habila, Helon. (2013, June 20). Review of We Need New Names. The Guardian online. Web. 7^th May 2018.
[10]	Hall, Stuart. (1994). “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
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[19]	Ponzanesi, Sandra. (2005). “Diasporic Subjects and Migration: Introduction”. Migrant Cartographies, New Cultural and Literary Spaces in Postcolonial Europe. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
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[24]	Zeleza, Paul Tiyambe. (2005). “Reuniting the African Diaspora: Beyond the Black Atlantic.” African Affairs 104 (414): 35-68.

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Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo, Edith Awogu-Maduagwu. (2021). Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels. Science Development, 2(3), 49-56. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

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ACS Style

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo; Edith Awogu-Maduagwu. Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels. Sci. Dev. 2021, 2(3), 49-56. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

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AMA Style

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo, Edith Awogu-Maduagwu. Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels. Sci Dev. 2021;2(3):49-56. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

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@article{10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14,
  author = {Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo and Edith Awogu-Maduagwu},
  title = {Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels},
  journal = {Science Development},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {49-56},
  doi = {10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.scidev.20210203.14},
  abstract = {Migratory movements of Africans to the West in recent times have led to the evolvement of the new African diaspora, distinct from the old that emerged in the immediate post-transatlantic slavery era, but with both comparable in number of those involved and scope. Lived experience’s implication in new identity construct of migrants leads to this text-based exploration of how first generation male and female African migrants in Bulawayo’s We Need New Names and Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers reflect Africanity. The selected texts, which are depictions of recent African diaspora experience, are analyzed using postcolonial concepts of ‘otherness’, ‘subalternity’ and Stuart Hall’s notion of ‘cultural identity’. The outcome of the relocation of many African migrants to the West is the expression of their Africanity in distinct ways. As postcolonial subjects, contemporary African migrants have found themselves at the ‘Centre’ where the reality of their racialization and essentialization have grave consequences on their identities thereby rendering them ‘unwhole’ Africans.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels
AU  - Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo
AU  - Edith Awogu-Maduagwu
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VL  - 2
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Author Information

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo

Department of General Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ilaro, Nigeria
Edith Awogu-Maduagwu

Department of General Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ilaro, Nigeria

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APA Style

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo, Edith Awogu-Maduagwu. (2021). Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels. Science Development, 2(3), 49-56. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

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ACS Style

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo; Edith Awogu-Maduagwu. Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels. Sci. Dev. 2021, 2(3), 49-56. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

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AMA Style

Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo, Edith Awogu-Maduagwu. Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels. Sci Dev. 2021;2(3):49-56. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14,
  author = {Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo and Edith Awogu-Maduagwu},
  title = {Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels},
  journal = {Science Development},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {49-56},
  doi = {10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.scidev.20210203.14},
  abstract = {Migratory movements of Africans to the West in recent times have led to the evolvement of the new African diaspora, distinct from the old that emerged in the immediate post-transatlantic slavery era, but with both comparable in number of those involved and scope. Lived experience’s implication in new identity construct of migrants leads to this text-based exploration of how first generation male and female African migrants in Bulawayo’s We Need New Names and Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers reflect Africanity. The selected texts, which are depictions of recent African diaspora experience, are analyzed using postcolonial concepts of ‘otherness’, ‘subalternity’ and Stuart Hall’s notion of ‘cultural identity’. The outcome of the relocation of many African migrants to the West is the expression of their Africanity in distinct ways. As postcolonial subjects, contemporary African migrants have found themselves at the ‘Centre’ where the reality of their racialization and essentialization have grave consequences on their identities thereby rendering them ‘unwhole’ Africans.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo’s and Mbue’s Debut Novels
AU  - Elizabeth Adesunmbo Omotayo
AU  - Edith Awogu-Maduagwu
Y1  - 2021/08/31
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14
T2  - Science Development
JF  - Science Development
JO  - Science Development
SP  - 49
EP  - 56
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-7154
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20210203.14
AB  - Migratory movements of Africans to the West in recent times have led to the evolvement of the new African diaspora, distinct from the old that emerged in the immediate post-transatlantic slavery era, but with both comparable in number of those involved and scope. Lived experience’s implication in new identity construct of migrants leads to this text-based exploration of how first generation male and female African migrants in Bulawayo’s We Need New Names and Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers reflect Africanity. The selected texts, which are depictions of recent African diaspora experience, are analyzed using postcolonial concepts of ‘otherness’, ‘subalternity’ and Stuart Hall’s notion of ‘cultural identity’. The outcome of the relocation of many African migrants to the West is the expression of their Africanity in distinct ways. As postcolonial subjects, contemporary African migrants have found themselves at the ‘Centre’ where the reality of their racialization and essentialization have grave consequences on their identities thereby rendering them ‘unwhole’ Africans.
VL  - 2
IS  - 3
ER  -

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