Living Between Borders: Transnationalism, Identity and Exile in Gordimer and Adichie

This article explores transnationalism in postcolonial literature through the migrant experiences in None to Accompany Me and Americanah . Political oppression, economic instability, racism, and globalization continue to compel many Africans to migrate, yet migrants often retain deep emotional, cultural, and economic ties to their homelands. Drawing on transnationalism, diaspora, postcolonialism, and identity from scholars including Rainer Bauböck, Thomas Faist, Bill Ashcroft, and Homi Bhabha, this study investigates how migrants negotiate identity, belonging, and cultural preservation abroad. The article argues that migration does not sever homeland ties. Rather, migrants construct “transnational spaces” that bridge host and origin countries, sustaining familial, cultural, linguistic, political, and economic relationships while adapting to new societies. Central themes include exile, hybridity, resistance, sexuality, identity, and Bhabha’s “third space.” Through qualitative, comparative textual analysis of characters such as Sibongile and Didymus Maqoma, Ifemelu, and Obinze, the study shows how migrants resist assimilation, navigate racism and alienation, and use language, family ties, remittances, and nostalgia to maintain transnational connections. The analysis concludes that transnationalism is central to the migrant experience in contemporary African literature. Despite identity crises and cultural conflict, these novels present migration not as abandonment of origins, but as negotiation of multiple identities and spaces affirming the resilience and adaptability of the postcolonial subject in a globalized world.