Hello! While reading the future of Post- Colonial Studies we came across the prominent Nigerian Writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. So we are assigned a task to listen her ideas about singles story, Feminists and Importance of truth in Post- Truth Era. In this blog, I am sharing my learning outcome after watching her videos.
Talks by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is known for her books that use the history of the Nigerian civil war to create stories that tell people the tales of war, pain, love, and happiness. Amanda Ngozi Adichie, born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. Through her hard-work, dedication and passion, she managed to redefine how feminism is viewed in society, and wrote novels that portrayed what it was like to be and stay African in a very westernized world.
Dangers of single story
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Danger of a Single Story" Ted Talk, in July 2009, explores the negative influences of a “single story”. By sharing her personal experience of being a trap of single story she pressures on having more than one perspective for looking towards the world. She grew up reading American literature and later her works also had blue- eyed characters and later when she went to white land for education she realized the single story of Americans towards Africans.
This idea can be or must be experienced by everyone, in a fight between two when we hear a story of only one we start making prejudices for the opposite person and without having any personal grudges we start hating them.
Taking an example of literature. Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë hasn't grown a character of Bertha Mason and so we feel like what's happening with her is to happen because she is made. But then Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso sea (1966) gave readers a new perspective. It broke the prejudices towards Bertha and her single story got new perspectives.
Reading characters is the novel or meeting people from different communities, groups, schools, streams etc . We have a habit of generalizing a single person for the whole group/ community/ or nation.
Adichie also tackles the effect of political and cultural power on stories. Power controls “how [stories] are told, who tells them, when they're told, [and] how many stories are told”.
In 20112 when petrol prices were hiked, various Bollywood actors tweeted about it, following the orders of political power. At present, when the same political power is ruling and prices are increasing, touching 100 they are deleting their tweets. This is how stories and told and controlled by power.
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Citing Palestentine poet Mourid Barghoti’s quote “if you want to dispossess people the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with secondly. Begin with arrows of native Americans and not the British; start with failure of the African state.`` She gives us a mantra to look at things in a new way, a path to look at things with a new perspective.
She ended her speech with a wonderful line “When we reject a single story, we regain a kind of paradise”. Grow various perspectives to see the world.
We should all be feminists
The second video I watched of Chimamanda Ngozi is on Feminists. She has shared wonderful ideas which are sarcastic to patriarchal society. She stated that a words Feminists comes with baggage, heavy and negative baggage, u hate men, bras, African culture that sort of things. And the worst is that men or society don't know what women are facing or going through for them “सब चंगा सी|”. On a personal level also I have experienced the answers on sharing any experience. It's normal that everyone is falling, we can't do anything about it, women are blessed with endurance. Blessed with endurance ! So should they keep on suffering?
Not only in society but also in the workplace men have occupied more positions of power and prestige and on the other hand men are paid more than women for the same work, dedication and talent. Adding to it she also said that today we don't need physical strength but attributes like more creativity, innovation and intelligence and this are not on hormones, it's equal for both genders.
Society plays a significant role, humans are its by-product, it is inherited that men are to be respected, women are below them. Boys are molded to be hard- men subsequently a fragile England women are molded to cater that ego, taught to shrink and feel inferior, emasculated. Marriage turns out perhaps the right of a specific man or respective women. Women a trophy, a property. Marriage seems like a social idea favoring men and patriarchal society. For a peaceful marriage men will have to give up bad habits while women will give up her whole life and career, dreams and hobbies. A Bollywood movie ‘Thappad’ by Anubhav Sinha very significantly plants the idea of a girl giving up her passion after marriage. Girls are taught to be good wife material.
Women would be hesitant in looking to masculine and vice- versa; women are to cook food for the family while the high [position of chef is occupied by men; virginity in women is praised. We evolved but ideas of gender had not evolved.
Even our cinema shapes the mindset that women are incomplete without men and to be perfect they need to be feminine and have a men supporter. E.g: Kajol from Kuch kuch Hota hai, Jab we met, kabhi alvida na kehna, etc
Ngozi’s idea which i loved the most is
In this world gender communication is difficult. The simple answer we get is it was and is meant to be like this. women are considered subordinate to men culture and culture keeps changing. People make culture, culture doesn't make people.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses Harvard's Class of 2018
In 2018 Ngozi was invited as a guest speaker in Harvard University and she gave a speech to the batch of 2018 for their further life outside the Harvard. The main idea/ aim/ message is be courageous to say the truth in this post- truth era. Be the change you want to see in the world. Tell the truth. Here I am writing some of her ideas which attracted me the most.
It's always difficult to acknowledge our own lies and tell the truth. We should not lie because it's good manners but because telling the truth will give us a good sleep. “We lie because we don't have the courage to embrace truth.” stay truthful not only to others but to oneself also. “it's hard to tell ourselves the truth, our failures, fragilities, uncertainties. It's hard to tell that we haven't done our best, which we could have.”
“There is a difference between malice and mistake, outrage but always remember the context and never disregard intent.”
Whether you are a leader or a led urge to bend towards the truth, to err on the side of truth. Live a life where humans are at center not abstractions. If you can't take support of literature which always says- we humans are flawed, all of us are flawed. We don't need to be perfect, we need to be right and just. Be courageous to recognize the things which come in your path of telling the truth.
Telling the truth is an act of courage, be courageous. Never silence yourself from fear. Always listen to the other side whether the person is in position or not.
Be courageous to admit what you don't know. If you feel dissatisfaction, nurture that dissatisfaction. Get into the system you want to change.
When the fear of failure holds you back, the truth to overcome is easy to forget, forget your failure. In life nothing is a waste of time, everything is an experience and experience is all we need in life. We cannot make or do without self- doubt and self- belief.
If you fail in life, think of literature and literary writers who bloomed early and who bloomed late. The experimenting literature which broke all the rules of traditional writing. They were not known in their time but are classics today.
Life is all about being truthful and courageous.
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