Defense Date

3-17-2023

Graduation Date

Summer 5-5-2023

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Communication and Rhetorical Studies

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Erik Garrett

Committee Member

Janie Harden Fritz

Committee Member

James Thames

Keywords

African diaspora, Rituals, Hybridity, Igbo diaspora, No Longer at Ease, Initiation, Communication, Bride price, New Yam Festival, Home

Abstract

In his novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad describes the African continent as “the heart of darkness” and frames African cultural heritage as barbaric, uncivilized, outlandish and backwards.[1] Unfortunately, this view represents the position of many European scholars who consider these cultures as inimical to civilization. However, in the contemporary era, intercultural communication, postcolonial studies, globalization, and decolonization of methodology have proved the negative western portrayal of Africa and its traditions as wrong and can no longer adequately address the complexities of African culture. Thus, the postcolonial African studies from the perspective of Chinua Achebe challenges the colonial narrative about Africa and reasserts a “true African identity.” [2]

Through the novel No Longer at Ease, Achebe demonstrates that core aspects of the Igbo traditional system such as traditional wedding which culminates in the payment of the bride price, and the osu caste system (osu-those dedicated to the deities of the community) still remain intact. In this novel, Achebe constructs the essence of Igbo cultural identity while capturing the Igbo and British culture clash that produced hybridity in language and other facets of Igbo life. Anchored on Achebe’s model of cultural hybridity, and the Igbo traditional system, this study attempts to establish the Igbo diasporic space as a space for demonstrating the unique Igbo identity. By performing their cultural obligations in their diasporic space, the Igbo diaspora in the United constructs meaning their life in diaspora. Thus, this study aims to highlight the communicative meaning of the cultural practices the Igbo diaspora.

[1] Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. Paul B. Armstrong. ed. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016), 35

[2] Gikandi, Simon. Reading Chinua Achebe. (London: Currey, 1991) 81

Language

English

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