A NEW IDENTITY IN THE DIASPORA: CHIKA UNIGWE’S ON BLACK SISTERS’ STREET AND MEG VANDERMERWE’S ZEBRA CROSSING

Abstract

Diasporic literature centres on experiences of people who leave their homelands for various reasons and still retain ties with their home country. The diasporic journey has resulted in identity crisis as the migrants strive to assimilate the culture of the host country while still retaining attachments to their homelands. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines how identities of diasporic beings take on new dimensions in host environments using Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street and Meg Vandermerwe’s Zebra Crossing. The paper places emphasis on the theme of identity crisis and identify formation that has been one of the major concerns of many postcolonial writers. This paper concludes that within the course of the characters dislocation, they grapple with the problem of alienation and will go on to form new identities known as diasporic identity while striving to be accepted into the mainstream culture.