Africanity and New Afrodiasporans in America: Negotiating New Identity in Bulawayo's and Mbue's Debut Novels
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Migratory movements of Africans to the West in recent times have led to the evolvement of the new African diaspora, distinct from the old that emerged in the immediate post-transatlantic slavery era, but with both comparable in number of those involved and scope. Lived experience's implication in new identity construct of migrants leads to this text-based exploration of how first generation male and female African migrants in Bulawayo's We Need New Names and Imbolo Mbue's Behold the Dreamers reflect Africanity. The selected texts, which are depictions of recent African diaspora experience, are analyzed using postcolonial concepts of 'otherness', 'subalternity' and Stuart Hall's notion of 'cultural identity'. The outcome of the relocation of many African migrants to the West is the expression of their Africanity in distinct ways. As postcolonial subjects, contemporary African migrants have found themselves at the 'Centre' where the reality of their racialization and essentialization have grave consequences on their identities thereby rendering them 'unwhole' Africans.
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H Social Sciences (General), L Education (General)