Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie read from the first ten pages of her newest novel Americanah and answered several questions at the Literacy Lives event at First Baptist Decatur Church. In the first few pages that she read subjects such as race, class, desire, and body image were introduced. Adichie’s female protagonist Ifemelu discusses these issues in blog form which is interesting since this is an avenue our class is using to discuss similar issues. It appears blogging is becoming more and more important to the way that the message of Black feminism and those who once felt voiceless are able to be told. It seems new age, but I think there is an element of blogging that should be considered when we talk about desire. In this age of technology, those who are underprivileged and desired to have a say in society but were not allowed access to any sort of platform may find blogging of incredible use. Adichie having Ifemelu be a blogger is a statement on how our society is shifting and the value we place on words is being manifested very different from what we have seen before (not in journals, books, newspapers). There are several blogs that are taken as sources of truth and knowledge, which I know is not always a good thing but, it is allowing the experiences of the underprivileged to be validated in a new way.

The greatest desire that is talked about in Americanah and the audience got to experience a taste of was Ifemelu wanting to return to Nigeria after being in the states for thirteen years and hopefully rekindling with her first love Obinze. Adichie giving Ifemelu a desire to return to her home country and her first love intertwines the different types of desire we feel to belong. The desire to belong is not specific to the diaspora, but in the context of the diaspora one may feel they have to alter themselves and their cultural identity to be accepted in different circles of people. It may have been that Ifemelu found herself changing who she was and not liking the person she was becoming, thus rekindling a desire for home. Home where you are (supposed to be) accepted as you are.

More than belong, Ifemelu longed to settle down, Adichie writes “Nigeria became where she was supposed to be, the only place she could sink her roots in without the constant urge to tug them out and shake off the soil” (7). In class we have discussed rhizome roots in relation to identity. Rhizome roots which are not linear and shoot out in various different directions, symbolizing that those belonging to the diaspora have an identity connected to a network of different things. The way in which Adichie discusses roots does not lead me to believe she would have disagreed with the idea of identity being like rhizome roots, but that the main root must be in good soil. Identity is a process, living in different places and making new connections alters one’s identity, but our identity still has to take root someplace. This passage for me also represented the importance of lifting up the root and placing it elsewhere if necessary, it is okay to alter the setup of the network.