African identities in The Book of Not

The source of this article is from a thesis by Ms Scholastika Namutenya Negongo and supervised by Dr Max Mhene. The thesis was a qualitative study which addressed the concept of entwined identities as a comparative study of fictional characters in three novels while employing the Postcolonial Hybridity Theory. This article is centred on the analysis and findings of one of the novels analysed in the thesis which is The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangarembga. The article demonstrates how the African identity in the 21st century is not simply a product of the colonial process but a varied and intricate set of identities that are shaped by experiences of displacement and separation. In the 21st century, Africanism is a fluid identity concept of reconstruction through the influence of global movement or contention, which is the push and pull between the local and global cultures. This article contextualises the identity of the Black African man as a complex and dynamic construct evolving, mutating, and in transit as transcultural, transnational, or diasporic cultures. The selected character analysis in the narrative has a significant impact on the arguments as evidence of the study's claim.