In between two worlds

Diese Diplomarbeit untersucht welche Herausforderungen die vier nigerianische Hauptcharaktere in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Roman Americanah erleben und wie sie dennoch eine transnationale Identität konstruieren. Adichie stellt Rassismus, Arbeitslosigkeit und Anpassungsdruck als mögliche Ursachen für den Anpassungsstress der Charaktere dar. Letztendlich gelingt es ihnen eine positive Beziehung zu ihrem Aufnahme- und Herkunftsland herzustellen.This thesis deals with which factors complicate the acculturation process of four Nigerian characters in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie latest novel Americanah and how they construct their transnational identities, in the course of the time. Adichie presents issues such as the pressure to assimilate, racial discrimination and unemployment as some of the reasons which lead to the characters’ acculturation struggles in their host society. Nevertheless, Adichie also dramatizes that they manage to construct a transnational identity by means of transculturalism and their engagement with the internet. Living between two different cultures and countries offers them a multiple consciousness through which they raise awareness about racism and white privilege in the United States or work against sexism and Elitism in Nigeria. In conclusion, Adichie accentuates that African transnational immigrants have the opportunity to give back to both their home and host country, and that especially second-generation immigrants hold promising futures in this endeavor of giving back to both their countries