The Reconciliation Of Opposites: Challenging Group Categorization And Stereotypes In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “A Private Experience” And César Mba A. Abogo’s “Hora De Partir”

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Social Identity Theory (Tajfel; Tajfel and Turner) is rooted in the premise that individuals construct their own identities based on social categorization and group membership, and this attachment of people to groups is sufficient “to produce prejudices both in favor of members of one’s own group and sometimes against members of another group” (Dovidio et al. 4). In this article, I analyze how the characters in “A Private Experience” (2009), by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and “Hora de Partir” (2007), by César Mba A. Abogo, resist group categorization and minimize stereotyping and group distinctions by experiencing intergroup relationships and enhancing their individualities. While the story “A Private Experience” portrays a Muslim and a Christian woman who defy the Muslim-Christian conflict in Nigeria by means of their peaceful and close connection, the interracial couple in “Hora de Partir” challenges racial and social prejudices through their love relationship. Thus, both narratives depict resistant subjects who confront the hegemonic ideologies resulting from group categorizations by the mutual interest between individuals who belong to conflicting groups and the depiction of a fruitful amalgam of transcultural elements within the stories that endorses diversity as a positive social value. By means of establishing harmonious relationships with outgroup members, these literary voices delegitimize intergroup conflict, trigger a transcultural dialogue, and find an effective way to resist the social constraints imposed by group categorization.