In the first chapter of Americanah, I thought that Adichie made a realistic representation of what it is like for an immigrant in a country as diverse, and at the same time as isolated, as the United States. America is described as a melting pot of cultures, where people from all the ethnicities and nationalities come together. For a lot of people in this country, interacting with others that have different backgrounds and beliefs is a positive and common occurrence. However, since the United States acquired its independence from Britain, it has become a great influence throughout the entire world. Music, movies, fashion, and many other aspects of popular culture in this country often become popular worldwide; but there are very few instances when the opposite happens. Besides Gangnam Style, when was the last time that a song in another language topped American music charts? Or a foreign movie? When you come from a country as influential as this one, it’s very easy to become isolated from the world without meaning to. For immigrants in this country, this isolation can become an obstacle; an immigrant from Mali might not always be able to identify well with a community that can’t even point out her country in a map (this is the case with Aisha, in my opinion). This is why many immigrants sometimes prefer to interact with people from their own country. I mention all of this, because I believe it plays a big role on the meaning of ‘civic’ for an immigrant. As an immigrant myself, I believe that being a citizen of two countries means that you should represent and promote your native country, but not let the fact that you are an immigrant become your identity. The duty of a foreign citizen should be to represent and promote their country, to educate others about it- So if someone doesn’t know where your country is on the map, you show them. Sadly, as we see in Americanah, that’s not always the case. If this same scenario happens enough times, it makes a person feel like their country for people here is unimportant. This brings into play the civic role of an Amercan citizen- to not only represent their country but to also free themselves from isolation. Wouldn’t a diverse community be more united that way? Isn’t unity a characteristic of a civic community?
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Chandler Grace Snow says
I believe you are right, in wanting to promote your own country here in the United States, because its important for every countries citizen to be proud of their culture. When the world is as large as it is, most people just keep themselves in their own bubble, and because of this, tend to look ignorant when they don’t understand another persons culture. I agree that educating people is the only way of showing them a world out from under their noses. In an ideal society, different cultures would be more unified, but the problems come from the people who are afraid of different ways of life (in their own ways). Not everyone responds like this of course, but it is definitely perceptible.
sxb65 says
Like the way you are thinking about the ‘immigrant experience’.