Cultural criticism and feminist literary activism in the works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the feminist activism represented by the creative and critical works of the award-winning Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In a move that signalled her growing international influence as a cultural critic, her 2012 essay, “Why We Should All Be Feminists” was distributed to high school students across Sweden. Her three accomplished novels feature female protagonists through whom she provides powerful critiques of the androcentric social, cultural, and political structures of the societies she focuses on. The novels are Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2007) and Americanah (2013). These are the major ways in which Adichie has made substantial contributions to feminist activism both on a global scale and in postcolonial societies. Using a narrative and socio-literary framework, I examine the feminist critique offered in these works to highlight Adichie’s contributions to current feminist literary activism and scholarship.

Keyterms: cultural criticism, gender activism, feminism, literary criticism, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie