THE FEMALE BLACK REPRESENTATION IN AMERICANAH, BY CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE ”“ CONTROLLING IMAGES AND OPPOSITIONAL GAZE

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the black female representation on the book Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Published in 2013, Adichie’s novel tells us the story of Ifemelu, a Nigerian girl who leaves her hometown to live in the United States of America. Ifemelu faces a succession of differences and similarities between Nigeria and the United States, among them the image of black women in the USA. The character realizes the existence of diverse controlling images ”“ expression used by Patricia Hill Collins (2000) ”“ of black women on the imaginary culture of the United States. Hence, Ifemelu starts writing a blog about her experiences and reflections on being an African black woman in that country. The sole act of writing partially sets up the acquisition of an oppositional gaze, concept coined by Bell Hooks, which means a critical and questioning gaze to femininity models imposed on art segments and on daily lives of black women. Thus, approaching the plot of the novel, this article, besides highlighting the importance of works like Adichie’s, which present black women as protagonists, intends to point out controlling images, to demonstrate the variety of femininity models and its possibilities, and to study the acquisition of the oppositional gaze as a form of resistance to patterns imposed by a racist and sexist society, limited on its views of what does it mean to be a woman.