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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Template:IPAc-en;Template:Refn nato il 15 settembre 1977) é una scrittrice Nigeriana di finzione, non finizione e novelle.[1] Adichie, recipiente di MacArthur Genius Grant, è stata nominata "il più rinomata" del gruppo di "autori anglofoni criticamente apprezzati che sono riusciti ad attrare una nuova generazione di lettori della letteratura Africana" .[2]
Vita personale e formazione
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Adichie, nata nella città di Enugu, crebbe la quinta figlia tra sei figli in una famiglia Igbo nella città universitaria di Nsukka. Nsukka si trova nella regione sud est della Nigeria, dove la Università della Nigeria è situata. Nella sua infanzia il suo padre, James Nwoye Adichie, fu un professore di statistica all'università, e la sua madre, Grace Ifeoma, fu la prima direttrice amministrativa.[3] Il suo villaggio ancestrale é Abba nella regione di Anambra.[4]
Adichie studiò medicina e arte farmaceutica all'università di Nigeria Università della Nigeria per un anno e mezzo. Durante questo periodo, era editrice della revista universitaria The Compass, gestita dai studenti Catolici di medicina. Giunta l'età 19, Adichie ha lasciato Nigeria per trasferirsi negli Stati Uniti per studiare communicazione e scienze politiche a Drexel University in Philadelphia. Poco dopo si é trasferita a Eastern Connecticut State University per essere più vicina alla sua sorella che aveva uno studio medico in Coventry. Ha ricevuto la sua laurea triennale dall' università Eastern con lode in 2001.
In 2003, ha completato la sua laurea magistrale nella scrittura creativa all'università Johns Hopkins. In 2008, ha ricevuto una laurea magistrale in Arte e Letteratura Africana dall' Università di Yale.
Adichie era un Hodder fellow all'Università di Princeton per l'anno academico 2005–06. In 2008 ha vinto un MacArthur Fellowship.[5] Ha vinto anche la 2011–12 borsa di Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, a Harvard University.
Adichie divide il suo tempo tra Nigeria, dove da seminari sulla scrittura creativa, e gli Stati Uniti.[6] In 2016, era conferita la laurea honoris causa - Doctor of Humane letters, dall' università Johns Hopkins.[7][8]
In un intervista il 2 luglio 2016 del Financial Times la scrittrice ha rivelato di aver partorito una bambina in .[9]
Writing career
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Adichie published a collection of poems in 1997 (Decisions) and a play (For Love of Biafra) in 1998. She was shortlisted in 2002 for the Caine Prize[10] for her short story "You in America".[11]
In 2003, her story "That Harmattan Morning" was selected as a joint winner of the BBC Short Story Awards, and she won the O. Henry prize for "The American Embassy". She also won the David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Center Award).[12]
Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), received wide critical acclaim; it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2005).
Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), named after the flag of the short-lived nation of Biafra, is set before and during the Nigerian Civil War. It received the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.[13] Half of a Yellow Sun has been adapted into a film of the same title directed by Biyi Bandele, starring BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor and BAFTA award-winner Thandie Newton, and was released in 2014.[14]
Her third book, The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), is a collection of twelve dazzling stories that explore the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States.
In 2010 she was listed among the authors of The New Yorker′s "20 Under 40" Fiction Issue.[15] Adichie's story, "Ceiling", was included in the 2011 edition of The Best American Short Stories.
Her third novel, Americanah (2013), an exploration of a young Nigerian encountering race in America, was selected by the New York Times as one of The 10 Best Books of 2013.[16]
In April 2014, she was named as one of 39 writers aged under 40[17] in the Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club project Africa39, celebrating Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital 2014.[18]
In 2015, she was co-curator of the PEN World Voices Festival.[19]
Adichie says on feminism and writing, "I think of myself as a storyteller, but I would not mind at all if someone were to think of me as a feminist writer... I'm very feminist in the way I look at the world, and that world view must somehow be part of my work."[20]
Lectures
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Adichie spoke on "The Danger of a Single Story" for TED in 2009.[21] On 15 March 2012, she delivered the "Connecting Cultures" Commonwealth Lecture 2012 at the Guildhall, London.[22] Adichie also spoke on being a feminist for TEDxEuston in December 2012, with her speech entitled, "We should all be feminists".[23] This speech was sampled for the 2013 song "***Flawless" by American performer Beyoncé, where it attracted further attention.
"The Danger of a Single Story" TED talk
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Aforementioned, Adichie spoke in a TED talk entitled "The Danger of a Single Story" posted in October 2009.[21] In it, she expresses her concern for underrepresentation of various cultures.[24] She explains that as a young child, she had often read American and British stories, where the characters were primarily caucasian.
Adichie illustrates her ideology that the underrepresentation of cultural differences may be dangerous, "Now, I loved those American and British books I read. They stirred my imagination. They opened up new worlds for me. But the unintended consequence was that I did not know that people like me could exist in literature." [24]
Throughout the lecture, she uses personal anecdotes to exemplify the importance of sharing different stories. Adichie briefly discusses their houseboy, Fide, and how she only knew of how poor their family was. When Adichie's family visited Fide's village, Fide's mother showed them a basket that Fide's brother had made. "It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. Their poverty was my single story of them."[24] She also shares that when leaving Nigeria to go Drexel University, she encountered the effects of the underrepresentation of her own culture. Her American roommate was surprised Adichie was fluent in English and that she did not listen to tribal music.[25] She analyzes the significance in this, "My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals." [24]
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie concludes the lecture by noting the significance of different stories in various cultures and the representation that they deserve. She advocates for a greater understanding of stories because people are complex. By only understanding a single story, misinterpret people, their backgrounds, and their histories.
"We should all be feminists" TEDx talk, and "Flawless" song verse
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]In 2013, Adichie delivered a TEDx talk titled: "We should all be feminists." She shared her experiences of being an African feminist, and her views on gender construction and sexuality. Adichie believes that the problem with gender is that it shapes who we are.[23] She says, "I am angry. Gender as it functions today is a grave injustice. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about positive change, but in addition to being angry, I’m also hopeful because I believe deeply in the ability of human beings to make and remake themselves for the better." [26]
Parts of Adichie's TED talk were sampled in Beyoncé's song "Flawless" in December 2013.[27] Speaking of the performance during an interview with NPR.org, Adichie commented that "anything that gets young people talking about feminism is a very good thing."[3] Responding to critiques of Beyoncé's feminist credentials in another interview, Adichie asserted that "Whoever says they’re feminist is bloody feminist." [28]
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's sampled talk parts in Beyoncé's song "Flawless" (Note: The parts contribute so significantly to the song lyrics that Adichie takes on the description of featuring artist on the track):[29]
We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller
We say to girls: "You can have ambition, but not too much
You should aim to be successful, but not too successful
Otherwise, you will threaten the man"
Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage
I am expected to make my life choices
Always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important
Now, marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support
But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage
And we don't teach boys the same?
We raise girls to see each other as competitors
Not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing
But for the attention of men
We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are
Feminist: a person who believes in the social
Political, and economic equality of the sexes[29][30]
In another interview with Dutch magazine, De Volkskrant, Adichie discusses why she waited so long before commenting on her contribution to Beyoncé's Flawless. She said, "Another thing I hated was that I read everywhere: now people finally know her, thanks to Beyoncé, or: she must be very grateful. I found that disappointing. I thought: I am a writer and I have been for some time and I refuse to perform in this charade that is now apparently expected of me: 'Thanks to Beyoncé, my life will never be the same again.' That's why I didn't speak about it much."[31] She also asserts that Beyoncé's feminism is not reflective of her own feminist values. She said, "Her [Beyoncé] type of feminism is not mine, as it is the kind that, at the same time, gives quite a lot of space to the necessity of men. I think men are lovely, but I don't think that women should relate everything they do to men: did he hurt me, do I forgive him, did he put a ring on my finger? We women are so conditioned to relate everything to men."[32] At the core of feminism is the argument that women should be able to exist and be recognized as independent people apart from men, but in a partriarchal society, they are unable to because their existence has been inseparable from men--until now. Adichie's arguments on Beyoncé's feminism may be derived from Beyoncé's album, LEMONADE, which can be understood from a feminist lens, however it is not as radical because at the core of the album is her emotional, physical, and mental struggles with a man.
Distinctions
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Awards and nominations
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Caine Prize for African Writing | "You in America" | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label |
| Commonwealth Short Story Competition | "The Tree in Grandma's Garden" | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | |
| BBCmeasuring Competition | "That Harmattan Morning" | Vincitore/triceTemplate:Ref label | |
| 2002/2003 | David T. Wong International Short Story Prize (PEN American Center Award) | "Half of a Yellow Sun | Vincitore/trice |
| 2003 | O. Henry Prize | "The American Embassy" | Vincitore/trice |
| 2004 | Hurston-Wright Legacy Award: Best Debut Fiction Category | Purple Hibiscus | Vincitore/trice |
| Orange Prize | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | ||
| Booker Prize | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | ||
| Young Adult Library Services Association Best Books for Young Adults Award | Candidato/a | ||
| 2004/2005 | John Llewellyn Rhys Prize | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | |
| 2005 | Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book (Africa) | Vincitore/trice | |
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book (overall) | Vincitore/trice | ||
| 2006 | National Book Critics Circle Award | Half of a Yellow Sun | Candidato/a |
| 2007 | British Book Awards: "Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year" category | Candidato/a | |
| James Tait Black Memorial Prize | Candidato/a | ||
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book (Africa) | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | ||
| Anisfield-Wolf Book Award: Fiction category | Vincitore/triceTemplate:Ref label | ||
| PEN Beyond Margins Award | Vincitore/triceTemplate:Ref label | ||
| Orange Broadband Prize: Fiction category | Vincitore/trice | ||
| 2008 | International Impac Dublin Award | Herself | Candidato/a |
| Reader's Digest Author of the Year Award | Vincitore/trice | ||
| Future Award, Nigeria: Young Person of the Year category[33] | Vincitore/trice | ||
| MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant[34] | Vincitore/trice | ||
| 2009 | International Nonino Prize[35] | Vincitore/trice | |
| Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award | The Thing Around Your Neck | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | |
| John Llewellyn Rhys Prize | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | ||
| 2010 | Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book (Africa) | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | |
| Dayton Literary Peace Prize | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | ||
| 2011 | ThisDay Awards: "New Champions for an Enduring Culture" category | Herself | Candidato/a |
| 2013 | Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize: Fiction category | Americanah | Vincitore/trice |
| National Book Critics Circle Award: Fiction category[36][37][38] | Vincitore/trice | ||
| 2014 | Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction[39] | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | |
| Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction[40] | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label | ||
| MTV Africa Music Awards 2014: Personality of the Year[41] | Herself | Candidato/a | |
| 2015 | Grammy Award: Album of the Year | BEYONCÉ | Candidato/a |
| International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award | Americanah | Candidato/aTemplate:Ref label |
- ATemplate:Note Shortlisted
- BTemplate:Note Runner-up
- CTemplate:Note Joint win
- DTemplate:Note Longlisted
Other recognitions
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- 2010 Listed among The New Yorker′s "20 Under 40"
- 2013 Listed among New York Times′ "Ten Best Books of 2013", for Americanah
- 2013 Listed among BBC's "Top Ten Books of 2013", for Americanah
- 2013 Foreign Policy magazine "Top Global Thinkers of 2013"[42]
- 2013 Listed among the New African′s "100 Most Influential Africans 2013"
- 2014 Listed among Africa39 project of 39 writers aged under 40
- 2015 Listed among Time Magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People" [43]
Bibliography
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Books
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]- Purple Hibiscus, 2003.
- Half of a Yellow Sun, 2006, ISBN 978-0-00-720028-3
- The Thing Around Your Neck, 2009, ISBN 978-0-307-37523-0
- Americanah, 2013, ISBN 978-0-307-96212-6
- We Should All Be Feminists, 2014, ISBN 978-0008115272
Short fiction
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Checking out" | 2013 | Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, Checking out, in The New Yorker, vol. 89, n. 5, 18 March 2013, pp. 66–73. | |
| "Apollo" | 2015 | Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, Apollo, in The New Yorker, vol. 91, n. 8, 13 April 2015, pp. 64–69. | |
| "‘The Arrangements’: A Work of Fiction" | 2016 | Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, 'The Arrangements': A Work of Short Fiction, in The New York Times Book Review, 3 July 2016. |
Discography
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]Guest appearances
See also
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]- Nigerian female novelists
- Buchi Emecheta
- Flora Nwapa
- Karen King-Aribisala
- Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
- Taiwo Odubiyi
- Ifeoma Okoye
- Lola Shoneyin
- Taiye Selasi
- Adaora Lily Ulasi
Notes
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]- ^ Rob Nixon, A Biafran Story, The New York Times, 1º October 2006. URL consultato il 25 January 2009.
- ^ James Copnall, "Steak Knife", The Times Literary Supplement, 16 December 2011, p. 20.
- ^ a b "Feminism Is Fashionable For Nigerian Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie", NPR, 18 March 2014.
- ^ "Biography", The Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie website.
- ^ Class of 2008 - MacArthur Foundation, su macfound.org.
- ^ Picture of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, su theguardian.com, The Guardian. URL consultato il 26 December 2013.
- ^ "Eight to receive Johns Hopkins honorary degrees at commencement ceremony", HUB, Johns Hopkins University, 22 April 2016.
- ^ "You can now call her Dr Adichie", This Is Africa, 19 May 2016.
- ^ (EN) Lynsey Chutel, Award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has had a baby, not that it’s anyone’s business, su qz.com.
- ^ The Caine Prize for African Writing, su caineprize.com. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie page at abbatown.net.
- ^ "Awards & Nominations", Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie website; PEN.org Half of a Yellow Sun, full story
- ^ anisfield-wolf.org
- ^ Leslie Felperin, "Half of a Yellow Sun: London Review", Hollywood Reporter, 10 November 2013.
- ^ 20 Under 40: Q. & A.: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in The New Yorker, 14 June 2010. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ "Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie Features in NY Times The 10 Best Books of 2013", infolodge.net, 18 December 2013.
- ^ List of artists, Africa39.
- ^ Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 website.
- ^ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on the World of African Literature, in Wal Street Journal, 1º May 2015. URL consultato il 3 May 2015.
- ^ Janell Hobson, Storyteller, in Ms., Summer, 2014, pp. 26–29.
- ^ a b TEDGlobal 2009, Chimamanda Adichie: "The danger of a single story", TED, July 2009, su ted.com. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ Commonwealth Lecture 2012: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Reading realist literature is to search for humanity", Commonwealth Foundation
- ^ a b We should all be feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at TEDxEuston, su youtube.com, YouTube, 12 April 2013. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Transcript of "The danger of a single story", su ted.com.
- ^ TED, The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 7 ottobre 2009. URL consultato il 4 ottobre 2016.
- ^ "TED | We should all be feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at TEDxEuston (transcript)". Vialogue.
- ^ Miles Raymer, "'Billboard' Hot 100 recap: Beyonce's 'Flawless' finally hits the chart", Entertainment Weekly, 4 September 2014.
- ^ Britni Danielle, "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Defends Beyoncé: 'whoever Says They're Feminist is Bloody Feminist'", Clutch, 20 March 2014.
- ^ a b ***Flawless Lyrics, su genius.com. URL consultato il 23 June 2015.
- ^ Beyonce Flawless Lyrics, su elyrics.net. URL consultato il 23 June 2015.
- ^ Ngozi Adichie: Beyoncé's Feminism Isn't My Feminism, su volkskrant.nl.
- ^ Ngozi Adichie: Beyoncé's Feminism Isn't My Feminism, su volkskrant.nl.
- ^ Rachel Ogbu, Tomorrow Is Here, in Newswatch, 27 January 2008. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ Name Search ›, Chimamanda Adichie – MacArthur Foundation, su macfound.org, 27 January 2008. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ African Writing Online, No. 6, su african-writing.com, 17 May 2009. URL consultato il 30 August 2013.
- ^ Kirsten Reach, NBCC finalists announced, in Melville House Books, 14 January 2014. URL consultato il 14 January 2014.
- ^ Announcing the National Book Critics Awards Finalists for Publishing Year 2013, su bookcritics.org, National Book Critics Circle, 14 January 2014. URL consultato il 14 January 2014.
- ^ National Book Critics Circle Announces Award Winners for Publishing Year 2013, su bookcritics.org, National Book Critics Circle, 13 March 2014. URL consultato il 13 March 2014.
- ^ Mark Brown, Donna Tartt heads Baileys women's prize for fiction 2014 shortlist, in The Guardian, 7 April 2014. URL consultato l'11 April 2014.
- ^ Hillel Italie, Tartt, Goodwin awarded Carnegie medals, in Seattle Times, 30 June 2014. URL consultato il 1º July 2014.
- ^ Mafikizolo, Uhuru, Davido lead nominations for MTV Africa Music Awards, in Sowetan LIVE. URL consultato il 14 April 2014.
- ^ The Leading Global Thinkers of 2013, in Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy. URL consultato il 14 December 2013.
- ^ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The World’s 100 Most Influential People, su time.com. URL consultato il 14 December 2015.
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons contiene immagini o altri file su Wikidonneally/Sandbox- Template:Official website
- Unofficial website via Daria Tunca, English Department, University of Liege
- Template:TED speaker
- The Danger of a Single Story, su ted.com, TED, July 2009.
- We should all be feminists, su youtube.com, TEDx Euston, 12 April 2013.
- Quality Street, su guernicamag.com, Guernica Magazine, 1º February 2010.
- Why Are You Here?, su guernicamag.com, Guernica Magazine, 15 January 2012.
- John Ezard, Debut novel from Nigeria storms Orange shortlist, su books.guardian.co.uk, The Guardian, 27 April 2004.
- Senan Murray, The new face of Nigerian literature?, su news.bbc.co.uk, BBC News, 8 June 2007.
- Michio Kaku, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Angela Hobbs (Audio), su bbc.co.uk, The Forum (BBC World Service), 13 April 2008. Formato sconosciuto: Audio (aiuto)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Commonwealth Lecture 2012, su YouTube.
