Translating the Global South in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah and Elaine Castillo’s America is Not the Heart

Abstract

My article aims to examine the concept of the Global South (Russel West-Pavlov) as it is represented in two contemporary novels, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah and Elaine Castillo’s America is not the heart. Firstly, the article discusses the novels as representative of “born translated literature” (Rebecca L. Walkowitz), identifying how their content and formal characteristics reflect such a framing. Secondly, I discuss the Southern identity of the protagonists in relation (Pashmina Murthy) to the places and the characters they relate to. Thus, my article proposes an analysis of the Southern identity performed by the characters in the public space and within their interaction with other communities from the Global South.