Acculturation, Otherness, and Return in Adichie’s Americanah

The idea of “diaspora” is an everyday concept for many people around the world who have left their homeland voluntarily or by force with the hope of making a new home in another place. In recent years, academics have used this term to reference conflating categories such as immigrants, ethnic and racial minorities, and refugees. This book examines the concepts of diaspora in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013). Americanah tells the story of a smart young girl named Ifemelu who leaves Nigeria for America in search of higher education. In America, she faces several problems before graduating from college. This book investigates Americanah through diasporic concepts such as self and Otherness, acculturation, cultural diversity, hybridity, ambivalence and mimicry, unbelonging and return.