Memory as Homeland: Trauma, Hybridity, and the Diasporic Psyche in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2026.v11.n08.015Keywords:
Diaspora, Memory, Trauma, Hybridity, Postcolonial IdentityAbstract
This paper explores the complex interplay of memory, trauma, and diasporic identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Situating the discussion within postcolonial theory and psychoanalytic criticism, the study examines how memory operates as both psychic wound and narrative strategy in the formation of fragmented selves. In Rushdie’s novel, national history and personal memory intertwine through Saleem Sinai’s unreliable narration, revealing the psychological consequences of colonial rupture and post-independence disillusionment. Similarly, Adichie’s Ultimately, diasporic literature emerges as a site where the human psyche resists historical erasure and redefines belonging beyond territorial boundaries.
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