Between Homeland and Hostland
Negotiating Afrodiasporic Family Relationships in Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde (1994) and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go (2013)
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Abstract
This paper explores the representation of the dynamics of Afrodiasporic family relationships in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by analysing Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go. These two women writers interrogate the family relationships of Africans living in Europe and North America. The cultural challenges encountered in the diaspora complicate African immigrant family bonds and relationships. The intersections of gender, race, and class in immigrants’ host countries present challenges that they must negotiate, leading to family disintegration or conflict. These intersections are further complicated by the generational gap between first-generation immigrants and the children they raise. First-generation immigrants experience a clash between the culture of their home country and their hostland, affecting the family relationships they build. The notion of home (the homeland) then acts as a catalyst that breaks or complicates family relationships in the diaspora; however, in some instances, it provides a way to mend and heal.
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Between Homeland and Hostland
Negotiating Afrodiasporic Family Relationships in Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde (1994) and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go (2013)
In: MatatuSearch for other papers by Rita Shika Amelordzi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This paper explores the representation of the dynamics of Afrodiasporic family relationships in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by analysing Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go. These two women writers interrogate the family relationships of Africans living in Europe and North America. The cultural challenges encountered in the diaspora complicate African immigrant family bonds and relationships. The intersections of gender, race, and class in immigrants’ host countries present challenges that they must negotiate, leading to family disintegration or conflict. These intersections are further complicated by the generational gap between first-generation immigrants and the children they raise. First-generation immigrants experience a clash between the culture of their home country and their hostland, affecting the family relationships they build. The notion of home (the homeland) then acts as a catalyst that breaks or complicates family relationships in the diaspora; however, in some instances, it provides a way to mend and heal.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1193 | 1193 | 59 |
| Full Text Views | 35 | 35 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 14 | 14 | 0 |
