The Danger of Single Stories
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie provides critical insights into the dangers of single stories. She says no event, occurrence, or place has only a single story to it. In most cases, the storytellers tend to overlook the other sides to make the audience understand a single perspective about a place or an event. She narrates how her college roommate had learned about a single story about Africa, which made her see Africa as a catastrophic place. She had not known about the positives of Africa, ranging from beautiful landscapes and animals to diverse communities. She emphasizes the dangers of a single story.
The danger of a single story is emphasized by the Kenyan Writer, Binyivanga Wainaina, who writes a satirical article about how to write about Africa. He starts by saying that some specific words, such as “safari,” “Masai,” and “Nile,” should be included in the title, while the subtitles should consist of even more words that are associated with Africa. Wainaina attempts to make the reader understand that Africa is not about the horrible stories told by Western writers but a place with many stories and good people.
As the author notes in his article in bidoun.org, he was irritated by what he had read and heard about Africa, especially among the Western audiences. For many years, they have perceived Africa as a state with many problems. He uses the words, such as women with naked breasts, to point out the actual beliefs and perceptions that other people have about Africa. He emphasizes that these beliefs are inaccurate and fail to tell the African tale: rich, beautiful, and diverse.
Chimamanda Adichie asserted that she agrees there are many problems in Africa, such as repressive regimes and high rates of unemployment. Still, she says that that includes only a single side, and it creates a stereotype and robs people of their dignity. It is an important point that is also stressed by Wainaina. He seems to devalue African people in his satirical article and says that they are starving, feed on monkey brains, and lack essentials, including clothes. The author does not particularly devalue Africans but wants to show how the authors undermine Africans when telling the African story from a single perspective.
Both Chimamanda and Wainaina agree that Africa is not about the horror stories people hear about senseless wars and AIDS, among other problems. Africa has a significant side that tells beautiful and rich stories about diverse cultures and the environment. Wainaina severally notes about the conservationists, and though he speaks about their work in a satirical tone, he makes the readers understand that people are doing good work meant to conserve the environment. It brings out the big picture of the rest of the world, especially the West, which is less concerned about the environment, poised to bring climatic change dangers in the foreseeable future. Essentially, Wainaina uses satire to tell others what to write about Africa based on what they read and believe Africa is about. However, the big picture is about telling writers and authors that Africa had many stories, and they should put in work and find the positives about Africa. Exposing a single side is dangerous as it creates stereotypes and robs people of their dignity.
References
Wainaina, B. (2005, March 22). How to Write About Africa. Retrieved from Granta: https://granta.com/how-to-write-about-africa/
Wainaina, B. (2007, June 19). How to Write About Africa II. Retrieved from Bidoun.org: https://www.bidoun.org/articles/how-to-write-about-africa-ii