Violence, and methodology of Resistance in Adichie’s Americanah (2013) and Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (2013)
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Date
2025
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi Ouzou
Abstract
This research undertakes a critical examination of the representation of violence and resistance in NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (2013) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013). It argues that both novels expose the different forms of cultural and direct violence, particularly as experienced by Black female characters, and that these narratives serve as sites of resistance against patriarchal and institutional oppression. The study is conducted by relying on the dual theoretical lenses of Johan Galtung’s “violence triangle” (1969) and Chela Sandoval’s Methodology of the Oppressed” (2000) to explore how cultural and direct violence intersect and operate across both novels underlining the sexual and patriarchal violence faced by black female characters. Galtung’s theory provides a framework for identifying the multiple layers of harm ranging from visible brutality to internalized narratives that shape the protagonists’ lives in both Americanah (2013) and We Need New names (2013). Complementing this, Sandoval’s theory foregrounds the subversive strategies deployed by the oppressed, particularly through differential consciousness, enabling characters to navigate and resist the dominant power structures. The study reveals how Black female characters endure sexual and patriarchal violence that is legitimized through institutional structures, cultural norms, and everyday experiences. By analyzing these mechanisms, the research highlights how literature not only portrays but actively critiques the systemic forces shaping postcolonial and diasporic identities.
Description
57p. ; (+CD-Rom)
Keywords
Violence, Resistance, Galtung, Oppression, Consciousness, Gender, Patriarchy
Citation
Literature and interdisciplinary Approaches