Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger Of A Single Story
October 27, 2009
In a world populated by meme machines… Meme machines who are a lot more susceptible to being indoctrinated with rather bizarre ideals than most of them care to ever believe, let alone admit i.e. see Millgrams experiments, we are all exposed to and influenced by biased opinions on a daily basis… These biased opions, all corporate advertizing, stereotypical ideals and one sided stories all seem to captivate and blind us to the diverse and complex reality that we were born into. And because of this, we need to remember the importance of remaining open, so as not to become oblivious to real and obvious truths… But probably more importantly, we should be aware of these issues, so that we do NOT become a slave to a system that takes advantage of the natural processes that ultimately make us behave in the ways that we do. Otherwise the people with the knowledge of how to do this will give into the corporate system’s promise of great rewards, who in turn will manipulate our minds, telling us what we should give, and not give, consent for. This is when we “honestly” stop thinking for ourselves and become nothing more than part of the “herd.” WE MUST SEE THE COMPLETE PICTURE TO BE ABLE TO MAKE UP OUR MINDS ABOUT TRUE FREE CHOICE!!!
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
About Chimamanda Adichie:
In Nigeria, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun has helped inspire new, cross-generational communication about the Biafran war. In this and in her other works, she seeks to instill dignity into the finest details of each character, whether poor, middle class or rich, exposing along the way the deep scars of colonialism in the African landscape.
Adichie’s newest book, The Thing Around Your Neck, is a brilliant collection of stories about Nigerians struggling to cope with a corrupted context in their home country, and about the Nigerian immigrant experience.
Adichie builds on the literary tradition of Igbo literary giant Chinua Achebe—and when she found out that Achebe liked Half of a Yellow Sun, she says she cried for a whole day. What he said about her rings true: “We do not usually associate wisdom with beginners, but here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers.”
For more information about Chimamanda Adichie, please click here.
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