Remaking Beauty in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah

Abstract

[eng] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah deals with middle-class characters that migrate due to choicelessness. She explores the hardships immigrants undergo in order to adapt to the new setting. Thus, focusing on three secondary character of the novel, this paper seeks to explore the way in which the characters of Uju, Ginika, and Aisha adapt to the new environment they live in. The aim of this paper is to disclose the different factors contributing to the development of the character’s identity as diasporic subjects. To do so, I will demonstrate how the characters’ identity of Uju, Ginika and Aisha are the result of the incorporation of cultural constructs of the West, which are reflected in the beauty practices of these characters. I will also investigate the way in which the three characters identity resonates with the term Afropolitan.