Afropolitan narratives and empathy: Migrant identities in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and Sefi Atta's A Bit of Difference

Abstract

The article analyzes two novels of migration by Nigerian women authors in the context of Afropolitanism: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013) and Sefi Atta's A Bit of Difference (2013). It is argued that Afropolitanism obscures the reasons why migration from Africa to the West has been increasing in the decades since independence, rather than decreasing. In comparing the two novels, the article focuses on empathy towards and solidarity between fellow Nigerians, which has been seen by Nigerian philosopher Chielozona Eze as crucial for building African civil society and functional state.