AN ASSESSMENT OF LANGUAGE AND THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY: A STUDY OF CHINUA ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART AND CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE’S AMERICANAH

AN ASSESSMENT OF LANGUAGE AND THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY: A STUDY OF CHINUA ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART AND CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE’S AMERICANAH

Background to the Study

Language is as ancient as man, and it is the most essential component of every civilisation that is still alive today. Language is unlike any other gift that God has given to human beings since it is completely unique. The way a person communicates with others reveals significant information about their ancestry. When Ngonebu (1) came to this conclusion, he said that "language is one of the most important aspects of human species." There is nothing that human beings are capable of doing without the operation of some kind of linguistic function. The development of language is solely responsible for the existence of human beings and the coexistence of their communities. Ngonebu had, very correctly, made the observation that language is extremely important to the life of humans. It is essential to keep in mind that when a civilization loses its ability to communicate via language, that society ceases to exist as we know it. Language is the factor that most decisively determines whether a person lives a happy or miserable life; thus, if one has language, one possesses everything. Roland (1) regards language as "the essential ethnic features of the person and the 'glue' that connects people together into ethnic groupings." This is a similar development. To further emphasize the uniqueness of language, Whorf (443-464) proposes that we divide up the natural world according to the boundaries that are established by our native language. We dissect nature, categorize it into ideas, and ascribe meanings to it in the manner that we do in large part due to the fact that we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this manner, an agreement that is maintained across our entire speech community and is codified in the structures of our language. 2 This elucidates the fact that language makes it possible for us to communicate with one another. It not only gives us the ability to engage with one another but also the ability to represent something, which in turn improves our capacity to make a remark about anything. It is important to recognize that language may have an impact on a society by shaping and even commanding the perspective of its speakers on the outside world. According to Catford, who is cited in Yusuf (7), language is a kind of structured human behavior. Language is a means; maybe the most significant one, in which human beings engage with one another in social settings. When a person generates vocal symbols or writes, their behavior in the language is externalized, or made apparent, in some type of physical movement on their part. This occurs whether the person is speaking or writing. In a manner that is analogous, Akindele Adegbite said that, "human language is one of a kind in the sense that it has its own system for organizing its component into meaningful patterns." In other words, the organization of sentences is governed by a set of principles, some of which include tense rules and concord rules. These are the guidelines for structuring the dialogue, as well. It is important to keep in mind that the language is the cornerstone of human life. The existence of language is analogous to the air we take in via our lungs. If it were to be taken away from the individual, it would imply that they would no longer be living. At this point in time, it is of the utmost importance to take into consideration the connection between language and identity. The term "identify" refers to the manner in which a person may be identified from the perspective of a layperson or common man. For instance, the color black might be used to identify someone of African descent; also, one's accent is another method in which one's ancestry can be determined. Identity is defined as "fundamental self" in the Encarta Dictionary (37), which is "the collection of qualities that someone acknowledges as belonging exclusively to themselves or themselves and defining his or her own personality for life." It is possible to understand a person's identity by considering the numerous aspects of the environment from which the person originates. A person's appearance, the profession they choose, how they grew up, and most importantly, the language they use to communicate with others all contribute to their unique identities. May (129) argues that despite the fact that language is not the most fundamental aspect of ethnic or national identity, it nevertheless has an immense amount of value. Despite the fact that language is not a fundamental aspect, it has a significant connection to the formation of identities. An individual's identity can be thought of as the maturation of their unique personality during a specific stage of their life, during which they possess characteristics that allow them to be recognized or known by others, such as the building of a reputation. This stage of life occurs when an individual is considered to be an entity that persists over time. In a similar vein, Parker (28) contends that identity is an ever-evolving core within which our genetics (biology), culture, loved ones, those we care for, people who have harmed us and people we have harmed, the deeds done (good and ill) to self and others, experiences lived, and choices made all come together to form who we are at this point in time.

Individuals may be distinguished from one another based on their identities. The complete amount of a being's knowledge and comprehension of themselves is what constitutes their self identity. Physical, psychological, and social characteristics are the elements that make up the identity notion. These aspects of a person's persona are susceptible to change based on their outlook, routines, ideas, and beliefs. Identity may take many forms, but the most essential aspect to understand about identity is that it serves as a tool for distinguishing individuals, groups of people, or objects from one another. This is the most essential aspect of identity.

The exclusive use of a particular language by an individual or group of persons is a powerful paradigm for the identification of individuals or groups. Many people believe that language is one of the primary factors that determines an individual's identity. 4

The notion of "quest for identity" relates to the endeavor of looking for acknowledgement. In light of this turn of events, Kwasi (2) offers his opinion that the search for identity is a strategy used by people, nations, continents, and other entities whenever they are not positioned in a position where they should be. However, when things don't go as planned, it's common for people to begin engaging in critical self-analysis. It's not all the bad things that happen to a people that cause them to have a crisis of self-identity; it's only the things that hurt human dignity and erode self-confidence that lead to that sort of introspection. The practice of colonization was fraught with difficulties throughout Africa.

The search for one's own identity is one of the most important factors that contribute to the growth of any community, whether it a person or a civilization. It mostly relates to taking into consideration the most significant differences that exist between individuals, as well as articulating such differences in order to have them recognized and appreciated by others. One of the most essential and essential aspects of one's identity is that it endeavors to demonstrate both the ways in which one is similar to other people and the ways in which one is especially distinct or unusual in comparison to other people (Jeffery 4).

Finding an identity and having a complete grasp of who you are as a person is never an easy road, and society has a way of making this path much more difficult. Consider the following scenario: a piece of land belongs to the entire family, and one day the eldest in the kindred starts dividing it up among the rest of the family members, but refuses to give any of it to one of the other family members. This kind of exclusion or marginalization will unquestionably arouse a negative feeling in the person, which will, in turn, prompt the person to investigate his or her true identity and determine whether or not he or she is a legitimate member of the

Contemporary African writing has been dominated by a single overarching theme: the search for one's identity after suffering the loss of it. Despite the fact that the difficulty of the search for identity was there already in the 19th century and even much earlier, modern authors seem to have worked out new equations to solve the dilemma.

There are many factors that contribute to one's identity, including status, sex, age, family, career, nationality, and so on. The European phenomenologists such as Heidegger and Gabriel Marcel hold that the problem of identity is to define one's connection between one's inward experience and the strange compulsive meaningless duty, which is merely to maintain existence in the community of material needs. They believe that this is the key to solving the problem of identity. In other words, in order for man to identify himself, he has to do it in relation to a community of other selves. At the level of the person within the framework of society, one's ethnic identification may contribute to both the formation of relationships within one's own group as well as antagonism against members of other groups (Jones 34).

Nevertheless, the search for one's identity is a phenomena that is widespread in our communities today. It is not the case that Nigeria is an exception. We see women in Nigerian politics looking for their authentic identities, workers striving for advancement, students searching for improved grades at graduation, various unions such as ASUU, NUT, NUJ, etc. seeking recognition, etc., all of these and other things foster the quest for identity.

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