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Abstract

This study explores the impact of the spatial and temporal dimensions on identity formation and development in the main character in Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. The craft of literary criticism springs from the common assumption that a literary text is a site of plurisignification. Consequently, literary praxis, from Aristotle till date, has inhered in the exploration of meanings from prose, drama and poetry texts in the belief that fiction being a mimesis of life must needs assist man to understand himself and the world he inhabits.  Thus, characters in fiction attract special attention in literary criticism because, as Alexander Pope avers, the proper study of mankind is man. Although many studies abound on characters and characterisations in the novel, it is rare to find a study on the salubrious or deleterious influences of the spatio-temporal dimension in a work of art on identity formation in a fictive personage.  This implies that character and identity may be coterminous but not synonymous, and the thesis of this study is that the variables of space and time substantially but subliminally contribute to the formation of a character’s perception of individuality, and the self-image he/she projects to the world.  Further, the study hypothesises that if the variables of space and time are changed in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Purple Hibiscus, the identity of the main character in the novel will undergo startling transformations despite his inherited genetic codes.

Keywords : Chronotope, character, identity, identity crisis, Nigerian novel.

Cette étude perçoit le Womanisme comme étant une programmation littéraire diversement appréciée par de nombreux chercheurs. Les contributions de ces derniers à la compréhension du concept vont d’une position radicale à une vision plus globale de la vie sociale. L’étude met en évidence le concept en tant que praxis qui ne tient pas compte du genre et qui favorise le dialogue sur le plan culturel et social. L’objectif de cette étude est de comparer le Womanisme et l’humanisme sous l’angle littéraire africaine et britannique afin d’ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives sur la fécondité du concept dans l’évaluation des relations humaines, la coopération institutionnelle, l’humanisation des relations politiques et la protection de l’environnement. L’étude utilise la théorie postcoloniale qui met l’accent sur les relations humaines et institutionnelles axées sur la préséance de l’utilité et la responsabilité comme moyens pour aboutir à un développement durable. Elle a révélé que le Womanisme et l’humanisme dépassent les frontières politiques et s’appuient sur la qualité de la vie et la responsabilité comme pierres angulaires pour l’instauration de la justice sociale au-delà de la race, du genre, des classes sociales et de la culture.

Mots-clés : Womanisme, humanisme, comportement, responsabilité, plénitude

This study construes Womanism as a literary programming that is diversely assessed in many scholars’ works. The contribution of the various scholars to the understanding of the concept range in meaning from a radical stance to a more global vision of social life. The problem lies with how to evidence the concept as genderless and culturally and socially dialoguing praxes. The aim in this study is to compare and contrast womanism with humanism from the African and the British literary perspectives in order to open new vistas on the fertility of the concept in the assessment of human relations, institutional cooperation, the humanization of political relations as well as the environmental protection. The study uses postcolonial theory which focuses on human and institutional relations regardless of peculiarities to support responsibility as a way of ensuring a sustainable development. It has found that womanism and humanism go beyond political borderlines and lean on the quality of life and the sense of responsibility as the cornerstones for the achievement of social justice beyond race, gender, class and culture.

Keywords: Womanism, humanism, social conduct, responsibility, wholeness