The Child’s Voice as Witness: Diasporic Trauma and Memory in We Need New Names

Abstract

This paper examines the representation of migration and diasporic identity in NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names, focusing on how the child protagonist, Darling, embodies the fractured experience of displacement from Zimbabwe to the United States. Through close textual analysis, the study explores how the novel negotiates themes of cultural dislocation, memory, nostalgia, and the struggle for belonging in a foreign space. Drawing on diaspora theory and postcolonial frameworks, the paper argues that Darling’s narrative voice highlights the liminal state between home and host culture, revealing the tensions, negotiations and psychological ruptures inherent in the immigrant journey. The novel illustrates how migration disrupts identity formation, particularly for young migrants who must navigate conflicting cultural expectations. The work concludes that We Need New Names portrays the diaspora as both opportunity and loss, forming a nuanced discourse on the complexities of transnational mobility in contemporary African fiction.