Abstracts Geography

Os deslocamentos de Ifemelu : uma (topo)análise do romance Americanah de Chimamanda Ndozi Adichie

by Bruna Alessandra, 1998- Kindinger

Abstract: Considering the intrapersonal repercussions caused by migration processes in contemporaneity, the present study aims to ascertain in which ways these relationships between person and environment have been operated in Ifemelu, the main character of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah (2014). Having this proposal in mind, we sought to deal with concepts that could assist us to better understand in what manners these interferences occur and how they subjectively affect those individuals. In order to achieve that, we resorted to theories related to Humanistic Geography, such as the differentiation developed by the geographer Yi- Fu Tuan (1983) between the notions of "space" and "place" which are oriented by an individual perspective of experiences, as well as others on the Sociology field, mainly with contributions by the expert Stuart Hall (1990, 1996, 2003, 2019), and, finally, by the topoanalytical point of view elaborated by professor Ozíris Borges Filho (2020) which has proper correlations to the Literary Studies. In what concerns our results, we were able to verify that the story's backgrounds did influence the main character's identity and, also, that their constitutions varied accordingly to her particular inclinations of spaces and places. Moreover, we discovered that these scenarios established significant convergences among the sequence of events in the plot and her emotional connection (or not) towards them. At last, by the means of this research, we aspire to reinforce the potential of literature to amplify the understanding of our reality since it can help us to think about our own human condition in this world.