Narrative within a Narrative: Blogging as an Embedded Narrative Strategy in Adichie’s Americanah

Abstract

In the world of storytelling, authors employ multilayered narrative techniques for various reasons. This study aims to explore the narrative levels, the relationships between them, and the functions of the embedded texts in Adichie’s novel “Americanah.” Unlike the previous works that mostly focused on the thematic concerns raised in the novel, this study is originally approached from a narratological perspective. Applying narrative theory, it mainly focuses on analyzing the novel’s use of blogs as an embedded narrative strategy. A narrative strategy here refers to a device or technique that a real author uses to communicate the themes of a novel. The study employs a qualitative research method since it is a textual analysis. Since blogs can reach a wide audience as a mouth of many diasporas, the author strategically used them to explain the external narration. Critical diaspora concerns are juxtaposed in the blogs by the major character, Ifemelu, for having the effect of intimacy with the readers. Overall, blogs are effectively used by the author as an embedded narrative strategy. The primary (embedding) narrative justifies the embedded narrative in it. They do not just present the text rather they provide a context for the embedded narrative. The functions identified are actional, explicative, aesthetic, and advancement of oral storytelling. The second degree narratives (blogs) are also used for aesthetic purposes as a means of creating suspense and introducing new plot lines.

Keywords: blogging, narrative embedding, narrative levels, narrative strategies, narrator.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55463/hkjss.issn.1021-3619.60.77