Inter-textual

Inter-textual

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Domaine

Social science

Titre | Title

RETHINKING AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS’ IDENTITY: AFROPOLITANISM IN TEJU COLE’S OPEN CITY AND TAIYE SELASI’S GHANA MUST GO

Auteur.e.s | Author(s)

Koffi Asaph Sophonie KOFFI
.

Résumé | Abstract

The representation of the postcolonial African identity has always been the concern of African creative writers and scholars. For decades, Afro-pessimism and postcolonial Manicheanism have been paradigms that prevail in the African literary landscape. This paper seeks to delineate how Afropolitanism attempts to optimistically rethink the African identity outside crises. Postcolonial theory lays the contextual grounds for this analysis with Selasi’s “Bye-Bye Babar” (2005) and Mbembe’s “Afropolitanism” (2007). The study of Cole’s and Selasi’s novels first unveils that the cosmopolitan status of Africans is partly due to their search for home as they peregrinate elsewhere to escape the postcolony in their country of origin. Second, the Afropolitans are identified with multiple identities and also multilingual as they are culturally and linguistically hybrids. The paper finally claims that Afropolitanism remains paradoxical for, it reinforces Eurocentrism and lacks political engagement to fight Neo-colonialism for the true liberation of Africa.

Volume

6

Numéro

10

Date de publication

01-06-2023
(06 - 2023)

Télécharger

0