Redefining the Postcolonial Identity Through the Deconstruction of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Novels

Abstract

In her 2009 TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explains that when one group is defined by one story, they are reduced to one-dimensional caricatures; they are objectified. The danger in a single story is that whomever is conveying the story are the ones in power, and these power-holders determine the way in which those with the single-story are perceived. In her novels, Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Americanah, Adichie avoids telling a single story. Adichie purposefully and skillfully nuances both the oppressor and the oppressed in these texts. This thesis explores how the multiplicity that characterizes Adichie’s novels intersects with the deconstruction project of Jacques Derrida. Derrida’s project shows how textual interpretations are unstable. Deconstruction reveals the indeterminate nature of a text and shows how any number of interpretations can be applicable. By applying Derrida’s deconstruction project to Adichie’s texts, the danger of a single story can be eliminated. This thesis will show that the deconstruction that is organic within Adichie’s novels produces an infinity of interpretative readings.