Migration, Maturation and Identity Crisis in Abani’s Select Novels: A Postcolonial Reading
Migration, Maturation and Identity Crisis in Abani’s Select Novels: A Postcolonial Reading

Author(s): Bernard Dickson, Chinyere Egbuta
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Social development, Social differentiation, Migration Studies, Identity of Collectives
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: migration; maturation; identity; postcolonial literature; Chris Abani; GraceLand;
Summary/Abstract: Migration, displacement, maturative dislocation and identity crisis constitute themes for literary discourse in the twenty-first century, especially as fall-outs of colonialism and globalization. The Nigerian literature of the twenty-first century reveals the preponderance by writers, some of who live abroad, to confront the notions of migration, dislocation and identity crisis, through their literary works. They portray varying prevalent social realities, especially as they affect people of the Third World. It is not uncommon, therefore, to encounter the child-protagonist as he/she grapples with the vicissitudes of daily existence, maturation and identity formation in a dystopian environment. For example, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses the characters of Kambili and Jaja (Purple Hibiscus); Ugwu (Half of a Yellow Sun) and Ifemelu, Obinze, Emenike etc (Americanah) to explore the growing-up motif as a tool for exposing the maturational processes of the child-protagonist who struggles towards identity formation in a seemingly hostile environment.

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