Double / Triple Consciousness in Adichie's Americanah: A Black Feminist Reading

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Foreign Languages , Faculty of Education, Tanta University

Abstract

Abstract

The term "double consciousness" was first coined by W.B. Du Bois in his renowned The Souls of Black Folk (1903) in which he epitomized the dilemma of Black Americans in the U.S.A. Du Bois illuminates the fact that the blacks are mainly seen behind a "veil", that is, their skin / race determines their relationship with White Americans. However, Du Bois' concept of “double consciousness” has been criticized because it fails to represent the complexities of the black woman experience. In addition, Du Bois's concept of "double consciousness" has been revisited by black feminists who incorporate gender and race within the “double consciousness” dilemma. In this way, the term "triple consciousness" emerged out of Du Bois's concept to explain how gender, class and race intersect to affect black women and undermine their individuality.

This paper aims to investigate how Adichie’s Americanah displays the intersecting oppressions of poverty, race and gender on Afro-American women. The paper aims to show how Adichie manages to incorporate important issues within her novel such as the process of identity formation which marks the protagonists' coming of age and the double /triple consciousness both male and female black/Afro- American go through as a result of their experience of suffering due to racial, social and gender prejudices. The novel depicts how race and gender shape the white mentality and undermine Afro-Americans because of their "veil", i.e., skin colour, and how their experience in the West proves that they are still affected by old colonial concepts

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References

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