Psychological Effect of Immigration and Acculturation on Hybridized Identity Formation in Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers and How Beautiful We Were[پايان نامه لاتين]

Zhaleh Laeli

The current research aims to investigate the concepts of psychological acculturation and adaptation in the selected Imbolo Mbue’s novels, Behold the Dreamers and How Beautiful We Were in the light of John W. Berry’s theories to analyze the protagonists’ psychological state after immigration. It also could be extended to the concepts of cultural hybridity, ambivalence, mimicry, Third Space and unhomeliness in the field of immigration according to Homi Bhabha’s view. John.W. Berry categorizes psychological acculturation strategies into assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. He also contemplates three aspects of adaptation: psychological, sociocultural and economic. Homi Bhabha states that cultural hybridity constitutes the effort to maintain a sense of balance among practices, values, and customs of two or more different cultures, which gives rise to ambivalence and unhomeliness. Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers evokes hybridity associated with immigration in the USA. The idea of the American Dream which was originally framed as a place which rewards hard-working people who have the dream to succeed, is violated and replaced by unhomeliness. Moreover, Behold the Dreamers mockingly designates unhomeliness of a family as bush fallers chasing an illusory dream, the ambition to make a better life in the US. The female characters also undergo psychological changes as well as their behaviors while adapting to new cultures, which is called acculturation. Imbolo Mbue’s How Beautiful We Were voices the environmental injustices and cultural and social marginalization of the colonized. Their landscape, which is taken by colonizers, is a prominent part of African culture that echoes its history and culture. To prove these points, the researcher reveals the strategies used in the novels which demonstrate cultural and psychological changes through both female characters. In the first novel, Behold the Dreamers, the female protagonist is presented as a feeble character as a result of acculturation and ultimately turns into a specter, while in the second novel, How Beautiful We Were, the main female character gets empowered by means of immigration. In spite of the fact that both females undergo aspects and processes of John W. Berry and Homi Bhabha’s theories, which expose them to hybridized identities and acculturating to a new space, the outcome of gaining hybridized identity works different for them. The female character in the first novel ends up feeling inferior and turns a specter, neither belong to her native culture nor the host one, while the trace of strength can be witnessed in the protagonist of the second one, which converts her into a heroin. Additionally, considering the effects of immigration or colonization, the researcher explores the ways through which the main female characters are affected by the situation which Imbolo Mbue represents in both novels.