Between Cultures: Female Experience in Americanah by C. N. Adichie and The Inheritance of Loss by K. Desai

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Između kultura: žensko iskustvo u djelima Americanah (C.N. Adichie) i Inheritance of Loss (K.Desai)
• Author: Petra Filar
• Mentor: Borislav Knežević (mentor)
• Committee member: Sven Cvek (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Stipe Grgas (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2021-02-18, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the postcolonial experience of female characters in two novels, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. The main focus is their ambivalent position caused by embeddedness in the homeland and the immigration country. The thesis uses postcolonial theory based on the works of Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and other postcolonial critics. It also connects postcolonial theory with contemporary processes such as migration and globalization as well as the question of identity. It explains how Adichie’s and Desai’s novels shift the narrative from the issue of anti-colonialism to contemporary transnational issues. The feminist power of the novels lies in the fact that the authors show how embeddedness into two cultures does not have to cause characters to be in an ambivalent position, either regarding their own sense of identity or their social position. On the contrary, it provides them new lenses through which they can see the world more objectively and better understand both cultures they are part of.

Abstract (croatian)

Ovaj se rad oslanja na analizu postkolonijalnog iskustva ženskih likova u djelima Americanah autorice Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie i The Inheritance of Loss autorice Kiran Desai. Glavni je fokus rada ambivalentni položaj ženskih likova koji proizlazi iz njihove uključenosti u matičnu državu te državu imigracije. Rad koristi postkolonijalnu teoriju temeljenu na kritici Edwarda Saida, Homi Bhabhe, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak i drugih postkolonijalnih autora. Rad također povezuje postkolonijalnu teoriju sa suvremenim procesima poput migracije i globalizacije te pitanjem identiteta. Rad objašnjava kako navedena djela prebacuju narativ s pitanja antikolonijalizma na suvremena transnacionalna pitanja. Feministička snaga navedenih djela se ogleda u činjenici da autorice pokazuju kako uključenost u dvije kulture ne mora nužno uzrokovati ambivalentni položaj, bilo da je riječ o osobnom identitetu ili društvenom položaju. Naprotiv, ono im pruža novu perspektivu kroz koju svijet mogu gledati objektivnije te bolje razumjeti obje kulture kojima pripadaju.

• Keywords: postcolonialism; transnationalism; identity; feminism
• Keywords (english): postkolonijalizam; transnacionalizam; identitet; feminizam
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:455146
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation; Course: Literature and Culture; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Access restricted to students and staff of home institution
• Created on: 2021-02-18 12:27:58