Diáspora africana e feminismo negro: o protagonismo feminino a caminho em Americanah , de Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the construction of the main character Ifemelu, a black woman in diaspora, in the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Ifemelu is the protagonist of Americanah, third novel by the Nigerian writer, published in 2014 in Brazil, by Companhia das Letras. The story begins in Lagos, Nigeria, extending throughout the United States and England. Over the course of the 513 pages of the book, which is divided into seven parts and 56 chapters, the reader follows the process of discoveries and growth of Ifemelu in Nigeria and in the United States. The creation of Ifemelu’s blog inaugurates an important phase in Americanah and the way Chimamanda Adichie constructs this process, as well as the interactions among characters having as scenario the journey between the United States and Nigeria, proposes an attentive approach to the construction of the main character (both as a fiction individual and a representation of the black woman in diaspora). The main references used as theoretical framework of this research were: Gilroy (2012), Glissant (2005); Du Bois (1999), Almeida (2018), Mbembe (2013), Hall (2014; 2003) hooks (2018), Davis (2017; 2016), Collins (2019), Duarte (2011; 2009), Miranda (2017), Emecheta (2018), Butler (2017), França (1981), Gonçalves (2017), Fonseca (2017), Santiago (2012), Dalcastagné (201 (2007), Côrtes (2007), Arruda (2006), Cade (2005) Souza (2017), Evaristo (2005; 2018) and Adichie (2017; 2015). It was identified and analyzed the construction of Ifemelu’s central role in Americanah’s narrative from two stages: Ifemelu in Nigeria and Ifemelu in the United States. In the first one, gender issues are in first place in Ifemelu’s life and in the narrative. Thus, the conflicts that move the plot are related to those issues, as well as aspects related to the political context of Nigeria. In the second one, ethnic-racial issues are more prominent. The process of discovering herself as black is an important marker of Ifemelu’s experience in the USA and, therefore, in the development of the narrative, and the creation of Ifemelu’s blog impacts on this experience. The entire journey that Chimamanda Adichie undertakes in deepening the interpersonal relationships of the protagonist of her novel demonstrates the richness and complexity of the character’s construction. As complex as creating an inspiring main character, challenging in its subjective dimension, it is to design a network of social, community and family relationships that sustain and move the development of this protagonist. Americanah proves that Chimamanda Adichie, besides being a talented storyteller, is a skilled creator of characters, family and community dynamics. In Americanah, Ifemelu does not fit in manichean reductionism, nor does she accept the conception of common sense of a “sweet young girl” protagonist smothered in an aura of perfection.