Challenging the Narrative: Reclaiming History and Silenced Voices in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The headstrong Historian"

Veronica Yumnam; Sangeeta Laishram

doi:10.63931/ijchr.v7iSI2.172

Authors

Veronica Yumnam National Institute of Technology, Manipur
Sangeeta Laishram National Institute of Technology, Manipur

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63931/ijchr.v7iSI2.172

Keywords:

History, Gender, Agency, Single-Story

Abstract

The history of nations has traditionally been narrated through a male-centric lens, often prioritizing the experiences and achievements of men while glorifying their roles. Traditional historical accounts, which often claim to be neutral or objective, tend to be biased and lopsided as they have been written from the male hegemonic point of view. This ingrained gendered exclusion has not only impoverished the collective understanding of the past but also problematized the very notion of historical authenticity and narrative authority. Moreover, history itself is not a neutral record of facts, but a constructed narrative shaped by those in power. Therefore, it becomes imperative to interrogate the context and viewpoint from which the historical knowledge is produced. Women’s stories, often consigned to the margins or omitted altogether, demand recuperation and reinsertion into the historical discourse. In response to this silencing, this paper foregrounds the necessity of reimagining history through a feminist lens, one that recovers subjugated voices and destabilizes the masculinist rendering of the past. The paper explores Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story “The Headstrong Historian” as a counternarrative that centers on women’s experiences during the era of British colonial rule and the African patriarchal system. By highlighting the resilience, intelligence, and courage of women, the story challenges the dominant, male-centered historical narrative while debunking the single-story of the past. The paper will also examine how Adichie employs narrative as a mode of resistance and reclamation, thus illustrating how storytelling becomes a potent instrument of women’s agency.

References

[1] Achebe, C. (1994). Things fall apart. Anchor.

[2] Adichie, C. N. (2017). The thing around your neck. Fourth Estate.

[3] Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2007). Post-colonial studies: The key concepts. Routledge.

[4] Alexander, M. J., & Mohanty, C. T. (1997). Feminist genealogies, colonial legacies, democratic futures. Routledge.

[5] Carr, E. H. (1991). What is history? Penguin.

[6] Eisenberg, E. (2013). Real Africa/ Which Africa?’ The critique of mimetic realism in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short fiction. African Literature Today, 8. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782041962-004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782041962-004

[7] Ejikeme, A. (2017). The women of Things Fall Apart, speaking from a different perspective: Chimamanda Adichie’s headstrong storytellers. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 15(2), 307–329. https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.15.2.02 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.15.2.02

[8] Emenyonu, E. N. (2020). A companion to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. James Currey.

[9] Green, K., & LeBihan, J. (1996). Critical theory & practice: A coursebook. Routledge.

[10] Hewett, H. (2005). Coming of age: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the voice of the third generation. English in Africa, 32(1), 73–97. https://www.academia.edu/926927

[11] Langat, J. (2024). Women navigating minority status in selected stories in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s the Thing Around Your Neck. LIFT: The Journal of Literature and Performing Arts, 3, 101–118.

[12] Mikailu, D., & Wattenberg, B. (2015). My name will not be lost: Cosmopolitan temporality and reclaimed history in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Headstrong Historian”. African Studies Quarterly, 15(4). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286063930

[13] Rich, A. (1972). When we dead awaken: Writing as re-vision. College English, 34(1), 18–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58680/ce197218299

[14] Sangari, K., & Vaid, S. (1990). Recasting women: Essays in Indian colonial history. Rutgers University Press.

[15] Tharu, S., & Lalita, K. (1993). Women writing in India. Pandora Press.

[16] Tunca, D. (2012). Appropriating Achebe: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and “The Headstrong Historian.” In P. Nicklas & O. Lindner (Eds.), Adaptation and cultural appropriation: Literature, film, and the arts (pp. 230–250). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110272239.230 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110272239.230

[17] Tunca, D. (2020). Conversation with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. University Press of Mississippi.

[18] Waugh, P. (2006). Literary theory and criticism. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199291335.001.0001

[19] Weedon, C. (2007). Post-colonial feminist criticism. In G. Plain & S. Sellers (Eds.), A history of feminist literary criticism (pp. 282–300). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139167314.019