Systemic Violence and Precarious Masculinity in Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah

Abstract

Going by African ideals of hegemonic masculinity, a man must be financially buoyant, powerful, and able to fulfil the provider role in his home. Ifemelu’s (unnamed) father in Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah defies this cultural expectation. With critical investigations of this character lacking in the literature, this study, through a qualitative analysis built on the concept of systemic violence, complimented by the transitivity system in Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics and stylistic devices of negation, repetition, and value-laden language, investigates how the character’s varied experiences, especially his job loss, leads to his emasculation. The findings reveal that the socio-economic workings of the nation prevent Ifemelu’s father from actualizing his aspirations while empowering the privileged to oppress him. In this way, the systemic violence endemic to the workings of the system is responsible for Ifemelu’s father’s financial distress, loss of power and fatherly authority, inability to fulfil provider role at home, and thus his eventual emasculation.