{"id":585,"date":"2015-11-15T02:25:16","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T02:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repeatright.com\/engine\/?p=585"},"modified":"2018-10-08T18:48:23","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T18:48:23","slug":"adichie-chimamanda-ngozi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/adichie-chimamanda-ngozi\/","title":{"rendered":"ADICHIE, Chimamanda Ngozi"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453315804311{margin-top: -40px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531588223-e020d87d-f7dd094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cI<\/strong> think it\u2019s very important for people to know that those men who are scared by women who are accomplished are the kind of men accomplished women don\u2019t want. So it\u2019s nobody\u2019s loss.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

Interview remarks, in \u201cMy Love Life*\u201d (14 January 2007) Henry Akubuiro, Daily Sun<\/em>, Nigeria; article text reposted via \u201cI\u2019ve soft spot for a reserved, intelligent guy \u2013 Chimamanda Adichie,\u201d Naijarules forum, www.naijarules.com [*Please note: original source not<\/u> independently confirmed by Repeat Right editors – Please see \u201cContext Notes\u201d for additional information.]\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531588755-96303790-852e094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong>: [Newspaper interview] \u201cOh goodness!\u201d she screams to my loony question whether her fame doesn\u2019t scare away men from her, given the peculiar Nigerian environment where accomplished women are dreaded. \u201cIt\u2019s not my problem,\u201d she says. \u201cFirst of all, I think it\u2019s very important for people to know that those men who are scared by women who are accomplished are the kind of men accomplished women don\u2019t want. So it\u2019s nobody\u2019s loss,<\/span>\u201d she sniggers for a while. \u201cIt\u2019s a question of confidence and respect, because I think that, if those men really respected women, there is no reason to be put off by a woman who is accomplished. I think it is a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source note<\/em><\/strong>: While a number of academic texts have attributed this quote Henry Akubuiro\u2019s 2007 interview with Adichie for the Daily Sun<\/em> \u2013 and<\/u> the text of the interview re-posted on the cited forum appears to be legitimate \u2013 to date, Repeat Right has not been able to locate an original copy of the article. The source information that we have been able to locate leads us to believe that the quote is correctly attributed, but this is one of the few items included on the website that we have not independently confirmed. You will want to confirm the source title and other citation information independently in any academic or published work<\/em>.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source link” tab_id=”1449531589797-29580b31-8c50094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cI\u2019ve soft spot for a reserved, intelligent guy \u2013 Chimamanda Adichie\u201d (14 January 2007) repost of interview from The Daily Sun;<\/em> online via Naijarules: https:\/\/www.naijarules.com\/index.php?threads\/i%E2%80%99ve-soft-spot-for-a-reserved-intelligent-guy-chimamanda-adichie.20587\/<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbc9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cI<\/strong>\u2019ve found that the older I get, the less interested I am in how the West sees Africa, and the more interested I am in how Africa sees itself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

Responding to a question from discussion moderator Andrew Solomon, following the \u201c2015 PEN World Voices Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture\u201d (10 May 2015) New York City, Cooper Union; video & transcript via C-SPAN, \u201cFreedom to Write Lecture,\u201d BookTV (video – 1:16:48, cited lines spoken at 1:10:56); online via C-SPAN, www.c-span.org<\/a><\/p>\n

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Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[Adichie, responding to a question from Andrew Solomon regarding about media coverage of African vs. Western events; on-stage conversation following a PEN World Voices presentation0:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, actually, I\u2019ve found that the older I get, the less interested I am in how the West sees Africa, and the more interested I am in how Africa sees itself<\/span>. [smiling & laughing] This is true! And so, I used to spend a lot of emotional energy being angry, but now [laughing] I am much more interested in Kenya<\/em> covering Nigeria then in the U.S. covering Nigeria, really.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4c9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0\u201cFreedom to Write Lecture\u201d (10 May 2015) C-SPAN: http:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?326002-1\/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-freedom-write-lecture&start=4262<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1e9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cPower is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, \u201csecondly\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Danger of a Single Story\u201d (July 2009) TED<\/em> talk on-stage\u00a0presentation, TEDGlobal 2009, Oxford, England; transcript & video online via TED: Ideas Worth Spreading<\/em> [video-18:30 minutes, words cited here can be heard at approx.10:11] www.ted.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bf9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[On-stage ‘TED talk’]:<\/p>\n

\u201cPower is the ability not just to tell the story of another person,\u00a0but to make it the definitive story of that person.\u00a0The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes\u00a0that if you want to dispossess a people,\u00a0the simplest way to do it is to tell their story\u00a0and to start with, “secondly.”<\/span>\u00a0Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans,\u00a0and not with the arrival of the British,\u00a0and you have an entirely different story.\u00a0Start the story with the failure of the African state,\u00a0and not with the colonial creation of the African state,\u00a0and you have an entirely different story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e09ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0\u201cThe Danger of a Single Story\u201d (July 2009) TED: https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cRacism should never have happened and so you don\u2019t get a cookie for reducing it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

Americanah<\/em> (2013) Part 4, New York: First Anchor Books ed., March 2014, p. 378<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Extended excerpt\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> [Fiction – Italics original to cited text]:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, in the following weeks, as she gave more talks at companies and schools, she began to say what they wanted to hear, none of which she would ever write on her blog, because she knew that the people who read her blog were not the same people who attended her diversity workshops. During her talks, she said: \u201cAmerican has made great progress for which we should be very proud.\u201d In her blog she wrote: Racism should never have happened and so you don\u2019t get a cookie for reducing it<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> Still more invitations came.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Editor’s copy – Americanah<\/em> (2013|March 2014 Anchor Books) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 978-0-45592-5<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1e9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cThe single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Danger of a Single Story\u201d (July 2009) TED<\/em> talk on-stage\u00a0presentation, TEDGlobal 2009, Oxford, England; transcript & video online via TED: Ideas Worth Spreading<\/em> [video- 18:30 minutes, words cited here can be heard at approx. 12:58]\u00a0www.ted.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bf9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[On-stage ‘TED talk’]\n

\u201cAll of these stories make me who I am.\u00a0But to insist on only these negative stories\u00a0is to flatten my experience\u00a0and to overlook the many other stories that formed me.\u00a0The single story creates stereotypes,and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue,\u00a0but that they are incomplete.\u00a0They make one story become the only story.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e09ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0\u201cThe Danger of a Single Story\u201d (July 2009) TED: https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cT<\/strong>he world does not extend to women the many small courtesies that it extends to men. I also knew that victimhood is not a virtue. That being discriminated against does not make you somehow morally better.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

Wellesley 137th Commencement Address (29 May 2015)\u00a0Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA; transcript & video online via Wellesley College, \u201cChimamanda Ngozi Adichie addressed the class of 2015 at Wellesley\u2019s 137th Commencement Exercises,\u201d Wellesley College, Commencement Archives, www.wellesley.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

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Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Commencement speech]:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about my discovering gender injustice because of course I had discovered years before then. From childhood. From watching the world. I already knew that the world does not extend to women the many small courtesies that it extends to men. I also knew that victimhood is not a virtue. That being discriminated against does not make you somehow morally better.<\/span> And I knew that men were not inherently bad or evil. They were merely privileged. And I knew that privilege blinds because it is the nature of privilege to blind.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cChimamanda Ngozi Adichie addressed the class of 2015 at Wellesley\u2019s 137th Commencement Exercises\u201d (29 May 2015) Wellesley College: http:\/\/www.wellesley.edu\/events\/commencement\/archives\/2015\/commencementaddress<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1e9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cThe problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be, rather than recognizing how we are.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should all be feminists\u201d (1 December 2012) TED<\/em> Talk presentation, TEDxEuston, London, England; transcript & video online via TED: Ideas Worth Spreading <\/em>(video – 29:29 minutes, cited quote begins at approx. 18:20)\u00a0<\/em>www.ted.com<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bf9ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

Extended excerpt <\/em><\/strong>[On-stage ‘TED talk’]:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be, rather than recognizing how we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now imagine how much happier we would be,\u00a0how much freer to be our true individual selves,\u00a0if we didn’t have the weight of gender expectations.\u00a0Boys and girls are undeniably different biologically,\u00a0but socialization exaggerates the differences\u00a0and then it becomes a self-fulfilling process.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e09ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cWe Should All Be Feminists\u201d (1 December 2012) online via TED: https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_we_should_all_be_feminists<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

\u201cThis was love: a string of coincidences that gathered significance and became miracles.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/strong>, Nigerian author<\/p>\n

Half of a Yellow Sun<\/em> (2006) New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006 edition, p. 106<\/p>\n

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Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Fiction]:<\/p>\n

\u201cOlanna had wanted to give the scent of his mother\u2019s visit some time to diffuse before telling him she wanted to have a child, and yet here he was, voicing her own desire before she could. She looked at him in wonder. This was love: a string of coincidences that gathered significance and became miracles.<\/span>\u201d (p. 106)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf639ddc-bfbb” add_icon=”true”][vc_column_text]\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0Library – Half of a Yellow Sun<\/em> (2006) International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 0-676-97812-6<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Resources<\/h4>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”Wrapper-Author-Resources”]<\/span>Learn more about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/b><\/span>| Here are a few good places to start –<\/p>\n