Narrating the New African Diaspora: 21st Century Nigerian Literature in Context (African Histories and Modernities)

This book provides the first comprehensive survey and collection of Nigerian diaspora literature, offering readings of novelists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sefi Atta, Helon Habila, Helen Oyeyemi, Taiye Selasi, Chika Unigwe, Chris Abani, and Ike Oguine. As members of the new African diaspora, their literature captures experiences of recent Nigerian migration to the United States and the United Kingdom. Examining representative novels, such as Adichie’s __Half of a Yellow Sun__ and __Americanah__, Habila’s __Waiting for an Angel__, Abani’s __GraceLand__, and Oyeyemi’s __The Icarus Girl__, the book discusses these novels’ literary and narrative methods and provides detailed analyses of two of the most common themes: depictions of migratory experiences and representations of Nigeria. Placing the novels in their relevant historical, sociological, philosophical, and theoretical contexts, __Narrating the New African Diaspora__ presents an insightful study of current anglophone Nigerian narrative literature. Front Matter ....Pages i-vi Introduction (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 1-11 Contexts: New African Diaspora, Nigerian Literature, and the Global Literary Market (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 13-36 Biafra and Nigerian Identity Formation in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 37-60 City of Stories: The Lagos Imaginary in Chris Abani’s GraceLand (2004) and Sefi Atta’s Swallow (2010) (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 61-83 The Prison of 1990s Nigeria: Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel (2002) (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 85-106 Leaving Nigeria: Ike Oguine, Sefi Atta, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 107-126 Exploring the Limitations of Afropolitanism in Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go (2013) (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 127-145 Second-Generation Nigerians in England: Helen Oyeyemi’s The Icarus Girl (2005) and the Negative Experience of Hybridity (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 147-163 Returning to Nigeria: Teju Cole’s Every Day Is for the Thief (2007) and Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come (2005) (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 165-184 Return Migration in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013) (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 185-199 Conclusion (Maximilian Feldner)....Pages 201-208 Back Matter ....Pages 209-212 This book provides the first comprehensive survey and collection of Nigerian diaspora literature, offering readings of novelists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sefi Atta, Helon Habila, Helen Oyeyemi, Taiye Selasi, Chika Unigwe, Chris Abani, and Ike Oguine. As members of the new African diaspora, their literature captures experiences of recent Nigerian migration to the United States and the United Kingdom. Examining representative novels, such as Adichie's "Half of a Yellow Sun" and "Americanah," Habila's "Waiting for an Angel," Abani's "Graceland," and Oyeyemi's "The Icarus Girl," the book discusses these novels' literary and narrative methods and provides detailed analyses of two of the most common themes: depiction of migratory experiences and representations of Nigeria. Placing the novels in their relevant historical, sociological, philosophical, and theoretical contexts, this book presents an insightful study of current anglophone Nigerian narrative literature