Interculturality in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah

In the twenty-first century, interculturality has become an omnipresent term. We passed the understanding of cultures merely existing next to each other, in order to adopt a more open perspective of cultures influencing and altering each other irreversibly and creating new ways of living and thinking in the resulting in-between spaces. The Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel exemplifies the concept of Interculturality by telling the story of a Nigerian woman. Ifemelu, at age 19, decides to leave Nigeria and study in the United States. Over a decade later, she comes back to her hometown Lagos, finding herself and her surroundings changed. This work focuses on how Interculturality becomes visible in the narrative structure of the novel and on how elements of intercultural relevance are represented in the story. An in-depth analysis brings forward how Adichie skillfully wraps up messages of heavy cultural weight in ordinary situations - sometimes cheerful, sometimes heartbreaking.