{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"149: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: "Americanah"","description":"This week on StoryWeb: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie\u2019s novel Americanah. Nigerian Chinua Achebe was the first African writer to publish a major novel in English \u2013 a novel in the colonial master\u2019s language. Published in 1958, Things Fall Apart tells the story of Okonkwo and his traditional Igbo village and the devastating transformation it undergoes with the arrival of British colonialists. But the novel is every bit as much about Okonkwo as a tragic hero \u2013 his story regardless of time and place \u2013 as it is about the damage wrought by Europeans. Things Fall Apart demanded that the Igbo be taken on their own terms. Now almost sixty years later, Nigerian literature has expanded considerably. In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie\u2019s 2013 novel, Americanah, the main characters live in Nigeria, the United States, and England. If not completely comfortable in all of these worlds \u2013 or indeed maybe not comfortable in any of these worlds \u2013 they nevertheless figure out how to move in these worlds. The two main characters \u2013 Ifemelu and Obinze \u2013 are modern, urban Nigerians. Hailing from Lagos, the capital city of the West African nation, their postcolonial Nigeria is a place of power-shifting, power-grabbing corruption. Both extremely bright young people, they go their separate ways \u2013 Ifemelu to attend university in \u201cAmericanah\u201d (as the Nigerians call it), Obinze to England to seek a new life. Eventually, they both return to Nigeria, determined to make a go of it in their home country. All that transpires from their youth in Africa to their adventures in North America and the U.K. to their return to Nigeria is the stuff of a long, complex novel \u2013 and I won\u2019t give away anything about the many twists and turns of the detailed plot. Chinua Achebe, who died in 2013, the same year Americanah was published, might not have recognized the Nigeria of Adichie\u2019s novel. It certainly seems that Lagos has developed in ways Achebe might have anticipated but never personally witnessed. I suspect, though, that he might have seen some of his own experiences in Ifemelu\u2019s journey to study in the western white world. In many ways, Adichie literally followed in Achebe\u2019s footsteps. Her debt to his literary legacy is evident, of course. But less well known is the fact that when the Achebes moved out of their home in the university town of Nsukka, Nigeria, it was Adichie\u2019s parents and their children (including Adichie herself) who moved in. You can learn the full story and read an early interview with Adichie in Ike Anya\u2019s 2003 article, \u201cIn the Footsteps of Achebe: Enter Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigeria\u2019s Newest Literary Voice.\u201d In that interview, Adichie said: \u201cI think Chinua Achebe is one of the greatest writers the world has ever seen, because he did not only tell us, the writers who would come after him, that our stories were worthy, he also swiped at the disgusting stereotypes of Africa.\u201d Here and elsewhere, Adichie has acknowledged the power of Achebe\u2019s example, saying in another interview, \u201cChinua Achebe will always be important to me because his work influenced not so much my style as my writing philosophy: reading him emboldened me, gave me permission to write about the things I knew well.\u201d To learn more about the Achebe-Adichie connection, read her essay \u201cThe Man Who Rediscovered Africa.\u201d Born in Nigeria, Adichie now divides her time between her home country and the United States. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation \u201cgenius\u201d award. To learn more about Adichie and her work, visit her website. You\u2019ll also want to stop by the independent website about Adichie, which has a treasure trove of links to seemingly endless essays, articles, and more by the Nigerian writer. If you\u2019ve got some time to invest in a long, winding novel, you just might consider curling up with Americanah. The best-selling and critically acclaimed book will leave you eagerly waiting for the film adaptation, which is set to star Lupita Nyong\u2019o and David Oyelowo. Visit thestoryweb.com\/Adichie for links to all these resources and to watch a conversation between Faith Adiele and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Near the beginning of the video, Adichie reads the opening of Americanah. You can also watch Adichie\u2019s TED talk titled \u201cThe Danger of a Single Story.\u201d ","author_name":"StoryWeb: Storytime for Grownups","author_url":"http:\/\/storyweb.libsyn.com\/webpage","html":"