Conclusion

Abstract

Echoing a quotation by the African-American writer Alice Walker (1983: 84), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie concludes her famous TED talk, ‘The Danger of a Single Story’, with the following words: ‘when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise’ (2009a). This declaration, along with Adichie’s speech itself, has been widely praised for its hopeful celebration of the potential of literature to capture the complexity and multifariousness of the human experience. However, at least one commentator has informally described this statement in less flattering terms, characterizing it as ‘oddly postlapsarian’ — and hence, conventionally Christian and far more conservative than it appears to be at first sight. This critical assessment, made during a conference session in 2010, struck a chord with my atheist self. Despite my admiration for Adichie, it had me convinced for years; it was only recently that I decided to investigate it further. I will briefly present this analysis here — my reasons for doing so will shortly become clear.