Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: "I am really interested in human beings." | Louisiana Channel
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- čas přidán 26. 09. 2022
- Enjoy the great Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in this warm and open-hearted interview on what formed her from her reading. About being a child that didn’t mind her own business and later copying Enid Blyton as an aspiring young writer. But also about how Adichie uses passionate reading in her life and her work as a writer today.
“When I started writing, I wrote about white people, but actually, I was copying Enid Blyton because I was so fascinated by the world she created. The way literature can create longing. I longed to go exploring with The Famous Five. This series was my favorite.”
In recent years Blyton has become a problematic figure, being criticized for racism, xenophobia, and lack of literary merit. Adichie states: “I think it is a kind of snobbery. I don’t remember any part of the Famous Five that was offensive. What matters to me is that books give me joy. And she told me the power stories. If reading books could make me invent a world, I did not know. That is something. When I came into my own writing, I feel as though having had that beginning was useful.” “I really feel uncomfortable with trying to force the past to fit certain shapes that we’ve crafted today. I really prefer to look at things in their context.” “I would hate to think that whatever I create would be changed when I am gone because somehow it doesn’t fit some sort of taste or way of thinking.”
Today Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie still uses books and literature as a source of inspiration: “I just read lots of things and figure out what I love and what speaks to me. I am reading Deborah Levy. She is so insightful and real.” “Maybe it is because I am a storyteller. I am really interested in human beings, and I think about people about their backstories and where they come from. “
“My husband tells me that I love passionately, and I hate passionately. And he is right.” “I was always curious. I was a child that didn’t mind her own business, absolutely. And when you are a child, it is not considered a good thing. I was always interested in just knowing. When the adults were talking, I would sit there and just listen”.
“I didn’t know I was confident until I was told I was confident when I left Nigeria. I think I was normal in Nigeria, but often in the US people would ask me: Where do you get this confidence from? When I was younger, even the posture of not caring is in itself a kind of caring; something has really changed. Motherhood changes you a lot; my daughter is six. I would choose what I care about, and only I would decide that.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (b. 1977) grew up in the southeastern part of Nigeria. After school, she studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria. At the age of 19, Adichie left Nigeria and moved to the United States for college, where she studied communications and political science in Philadelphia. Adichie has received numerous prizes for her literary work, including the novels ‘Purple Hibiscus’ (2003) and ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ (2006). Her novel ‘Americanah’ (2013 won the US National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times' Top Ten Best Books of 2013. She has delivered two landmark TED talks: her 2009 TED Talk The Danger of A Single Story and her 2012 TEDx Euston talk We Should All Be Feminists, which started a worldwide conversation about feminism and was published as a book in 2014. Adichie was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015. In 2017, Fortune Magazine named her one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. She is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was interviewed by the journalist Synne Rifbjerg in Copenhagen in June 2022.
Camera: Rasmus Quistgaard
Edit: Signe Boe Pedersen
Produced by Christian Lund
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2022
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling, and Fritz Hansen
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Let's appreciate the hearty and deep laughter she shared with us through this interview
So candid and somehow unafraid to contradict herself in this interview, actually humanizes her even more in my eyes. I've been yearning to hear her voice, more recently because so much of the world has changed and in some instances regressed where we thought progress was made.
I could listen to her talk all day.
I can listen to Chimamanda everyday and forever.
Same. Her voice is so smooth.
There’s something about her laugh that reminds me of maya angelou
It’s so beautiful
She’s so intelligent and enchanting. One of the best to come out of Africa. I hope people read her books, she’s unbelievable. My fave is half of a yellow sun.
She's sold millions of Books, people do read her, don't worry😅
We've read em all and reread, we've been waiting on more.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks gold
I like this woman... The way she thinks is so open and welcoming... I'm looking forward to reading her new work.
I loved Enid Blyton too! Famous Five, Mallory Towers etc..shame my interest did not translate into writing books like Chimamandas’ 😂😂
Yes, I just love her honesty, generosity, and candid responses in her interviews. She is so inspirational!!! 💚💚💚
When I read her books it makes me almost sad when I am near to finish it. She is very generous in her interviews and it is always a pleasure to hear her voice.
Chimamanda is just brilliant! So so smart. I can watch her videos or listen to her all day and start again the next day...
Her collection The Thing Around Your Neck is my ultimate favorite. I would love to meet her one day. 💕
She laughed beautifully and answered beautifully…real connection
I still remember reading her speech in class and being moved immensely. What a wondrous writer, thinker and impactful human she is . Thank you very much for malign this interview as strong and powerful as it was.
One of my fav authors. I love her voice and the way she speaks.
I absolutely adore this woman ❤🎉 Such a wonderful interview 👏🏽
Her story about Enid Blyton is the same story as mine. Its probably why I find it hard to let go of her and her books.
She inspires me more than I can sometimes imagine.
Congratulations to Synne Rifberg for her steadfastness in approaching such a formidable interlocutor. 👏👏👏Chimamanda was fascinating and charming as always. I am beginning to be a little jealous of Denmark as Chimamanda seemingly spends a lot of time there.
I am in love with this woman and thank you Louisiana channel for bringing her back. Such thought provoking questions and real yet probing discussions! I love it all.. please never stop Louisiana!
Thank you so much, words like yours make us want to proceed the best we can!
@@thelouisianachannel we would LOVE to see her again and fr, this interview is one of the best I've seen of her.
She's really comfortable and taking us deeper into her life
Something nearly all her fans want to see.
I just can't get enough listening to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I don't mind listening to her all day. Very eloquent and smart. ❤️❤️❤️
Even her laugh is extraordinary
I love EVERYTHING about her
What an enjoyable interview, loved the rapport between Chimamanda and the interviewer.
Glad you liked it :)
I can't love her too much or enough!! The way her mind works is what makes Chimamanda so great!! To be a writer of this caliber, thoughtfulness is key. Making a credible story comes down to the way the details are expressed or not.
I just love this woman. She is so smart and so honest... she inspires me...!
How insightful Chimamanda is, she looks at the world just as she rights in her books.
I love and appreciate the curiosity of the interviewer. Great interview!
Nearly all of us are starting writing in school, really, so it is.
But only a few continue to write after school. To be free of school doesn't mean to be free in writing.
We'll never see how it will be without writing until we start to change our schools.
😭Now I know I'm not the only one that feels jealous of her daughter.
I have a friend Duke Nwosu, he has the same birthday as Chimamanda , and sending him this link would be a great treat, which is what i am going to do after watching it myself, lol.
Her interviews are always so generous and insightful. Absolutely love her.
Fabulous interview! I love your channel so much, please don't ever stop ❤️
My favorite 💓💓
Now I'm a fan of this interviewer too, in addition to being Chimamanda's fan.
I love her, she is honest, steadfast in her opinions, eloquent & her outlook at the world❤❤
I recogonize the interviewer from previous Danish interviews. She asks such sharp questions and is also so funny. Adichie is fascinating as always!
Thank you - you are absolutely right. Synne Rifbjerg is her name and she is a journalist and a frequent interviewer in our literature videos. If you want to see her interview on stage, check out this video: czcams.com/video/F4rQ-vbUfuI/video.html
Me too, just from her voice. Amazing interview 👏🏿👏🏿
Wonderful conversation.
Amazing interviewer, compelling conversation! Whew!❤
I enjoy listening to her speak and hold intellectual yet meaningful discussions about her writings and books.
I love Chimamanda❤️❤️
Good lord it seems every African child who grew up in a former British colony read Enid Blyton . I grew up on Noddy , the famous five and the secret 7
Beautiful
I can't help but consume you everyday chief Mandy, you are doing well.
I love Chimamanda and her writings.
Great interview, looking into the books she mentioned ❤
I really love her work,one day I will reach there
Excellent interviewer!
Love Enid blyton books and love Chimamanda
Yes, Faith and reason co-exist.
The one and only "Odelu uwa". 👏👏
She s ur very intelegent and the best on the live in from aljeria
I loved Enid Blyton books
What Chimamanda must understand is that we in comparison to the world are living in two seperated worlds within the same space in respect not of detachement from the world but understanding that the ideas of social contructs outdates the time its popularized in a set world space.
I loved Enid Blyton books. I had a lot of them. And honestly, I never saw the racist part of her. Maybe it was my child mind.
I absolutely love Chimamanda.❤
I think Moneyland by Oliver Bullough is the book about ultra rich. Really good!
You are beautiful smart educated I love 💕 support from Indianapolis
❤
Chimamanda is an intelligent person , she once said that beauty does not solve problems
Amanda, Faith and reason are inextricably tied to the understanding of catholic theology…one don’t exist without the other…
Here is a brilliant brilliant novelist and short story writer from our beloved world today only ! She is basically from Nigeria ( Africa ) but writes in English. Her creative genius is being appreciated across the world. God bless you!!!..
I find the word choice ''basically'' interesting
I agree that she is an amazing author, but why do you say "but writes In English"? They speak English in Nigeria.
... because it's obviously NOT her mother tongue. She could have written in her local language too.
@@ramdularsingh1435 You do know English is Nigeria's official language right? The very fact that she's a Nigerian literate means there's a higher chance she speaks English than she does her local language as it is with many Nigerian literates today, hence why the use of the word basically causes bafflement for a Nigerian like myself
@@dumemnduka7930 This gentlemen is just fascinated about her ability writing and speaking in someone language. Nigeria are not English, English is coincidence language, that arrived in our domain through colonialism. There no pride in speaking English. How i wish, we speak and write in our Mother tongue.
Pacesetters we're the days.
Now I have to look for Enid Bligton “the famous five”
That was a reaaally famous book in Nigeria tho...
I’m just commenting
Very honest conversation, I feel uncomfortable in the church. I find everything about it ludicrous, except for meetings new people. I'm more interested in African spirituality. I mean any part of Africa it does not matter to me. I just want to know more.
Lots of CZcams videos on African Spirituality. Look up "The Medicine Shell", by an Igbo where Chimamanda is from.
@@8AUGS thanks for the reply, I know about medicine shell. The host is Derek Ofodrinaw. I'm not sure if spelt the last name correctly. I use to be a petron subscriber of his show, but not any more. But I still flow his post closely with absolute attention.
📚📖💵©️
It takes faith to have none.
Lol word. 😂
I'm listening to my kindred spirit! I loved Famous Five and I was Georgie. I always wanted Timmy the Dog.
The interviewer is trying to influence her answers and seems to be eliciting opinions from Adichie that she didn't have and hasn't had time to think about... The interviewer also seems to have some opinions about Enid Blyton :/
Georgie spoke to me as a youngster because I was uncomfortable being female. I very much related to Georgie. I wanted to be Georgie. I loved that it was possible to be a 'girl' and not be girly! I agree with Adichie where she says that she finds it offensive to rewrite the books.
23:25
How do u spell the name of the book series ?
Pacesetters
But, do they have libraries in Nigeria? As one French interviewer might say (not ask).
Yes they do
Gordon? Ooos that’s an alcoholic brand in Nigeria,chineke kpo kwa gi oku udele okuko.
We do have libraries and do you guys have melanin in your skin? Do all Turkish people have stale bread for a brain like you?
How about you figure out how to have inbuilt melanin and surviving without sunscreen for starters. Have a terrific life!
Oh shut up please,you wanted to sound condescending,I will not tolerate your racist behavior. Take that gutter behavior else where!
What do you think 😂😂
Cheeky 😂😂
Enid Blyton was right winged, maybe racist in her righting. Well we could all be political in all our ways of life. And in writing we reflect that.
Are weight right recovey 99
Chimamanda got rich before she got really radical. Which is a tragedy for her voice. You can acknowledge a problematic writer while admitting their impact on your life. You can detest the idea of immoral wealth hoarding while having empathy. This is very superficial thinking, unlike the depth of the writer that I do know, love and respect her work.
Because she doesnt pander to men's ego. Ndo
@@ijeonu2405 how did you arrive at that from my comment?
@@ijeonu2405 if you could parse my statement you would see that what I'm saying really is that if she could extend the depth and consideration and thoughtfulness and intelligence and wit with which she tackles feminism to ideas like income inequality, climate justice, exploitative economic systems she would be the intellectual many wished she could be. I'm sure you have a point in some different area of discourse about pandering to men's egos, but I'm not sure how you got it from my comment. But it's the internet. Just want you to know it's okay to critique your heroes. Which is exactly what my comment was. But enjoy. Ndo
@@panafricangriot Your heroes are not necessarily omnipotent. It is okay to adulate them for the measure they willing give and be thankful for it without having to charge them to do more, because in the end, they truly never owed you nada.
@@panafricangriot Hi.
I just want to point out that CNA is not the only human out there. She's not even the only popular writer. She saw a problem in the gender balance and is very vocal about it.
I think she's chosen her path. Let others speak about climate justice, income inequality, and whatnot.
You can't expect one human to be passionate about everything, so, why do you think CNA should be vocal about every world equilibrium problem?
Something must be said about Black writers who insist on defending their problematic white faves (who are also interestingly, their references) and how that fact makes these writers most palatable to the art world. Must say i am thoroughly disappointed in Louisiana Channel whose content i have been consuming for years.
Wow really? If you only could back in time and change her library!
Really? Y'all are so funny.
I read books written by white authors as a teenager too. I loved reading those books. Now, I'm a bit older, and I enjoy reading books by African authors that I've discovered but I can't go back in time and hate what I loved.
Why are y'all bent on judging CNA, especially with arguments that don't seem to make any sense?
@@jessicaajuonuma7211 you referring to all white authors?!! bc i read many white authors too. who didn't?! who gets published the most?! right? exactly. but i am referring to Enid Blyton's racist writing. i've never read any her oeuvre, thankfully!! even though Belize was a British colony i was somehow spared from her work. Thank God!
Love CNA but I think her admission of "not remembering" any racism in Blyton's books, while humanizing, is also illuminating because it reminds me of the quote she gave in reaction to JK Rowling's June 2020 essay; CNA described it as "perfectly reasonable." In the same way that she's making assumptions based on an incomplete memory of Blyton's work (i.e. The Little Black Doll, in which the character Sambo, is hated by his owner and other toys owing to his "ugly black face", and runs away, after which a shower of "magic rain" washes his face clean, after which he is welcomed back home with his now pink face), I doubt she delved into the details and horridly sourced claims JKR made-for example, claiming that segregating spaces by gender instead of sex would increase risks of assault for cisgendered women, when, in fact, trans women are statistically more likely to be the victims of assault in such spaces. Contrary to the perception of "trans activists" and "social justice warriors" as folks who prioritize feelings over facts, it's those *details* that prominent intellectuals get wrong (perhaps because *they* are the ones prioritizing how changing laws makes them feel over how it actually impacts them-or doesn't) and *that* is what is so upsetting. As CNA herself has said, now is the time to talk about what we are actually talking about.
I read Enid Blyton’s books and numerous authors as a kid. I loved them! I religiously read British & American comics until the 5th grade when the 1st real Nigerian comic was published weekly. My brother and could not wait for a Thursday! Don’t judge Adiche’s upbringing without knowing the era she grew up. I am 58 years old and can relate. I did not discover Nigerian authors until middle & high school. Remember, Nigeria was a British colony.
I never heard anything about Ms. Blyton being racist until this morning. She contributed to my imaginary world as a kid and l am thrilled she and other authors did. My kids never read her books because times have changed.
@@abbysotomi2457 To clarify, I'm not judging her upbringing. It would be ridiculous to argue that she should have been conscious of biases in books as a child. I'm saying that, as an adult, confronted with the arguments of folks who are legitimately re-examining Blyton's work among others, she should take those arguments seriously. That doesn't mean agree with them, it doesn't mean support book bans or censorship of any kind (because, to your point, there's immeasurable value in their contribution to the imaginary world of children and their eventual adulthood). It just means being humble enough to say "Ok, I'll take another look at these books, and then see what I think now," instead of "That doesn't SOUND right to me, that's not how I remember it, you all must just be young snowflakes."
@@nomanisanisland117 you had me until l saw "snowflake". On that note, l bow out and you can keep arguing with yourself. Have a great day.
@@abbysotomi2457 I'll take that as an agreement with my point, which was that CNA is dismissing her critics (and Blyton's) in this instance as snowflakes, or overly sensitive non-intellectuals. I, like you, apparently, am insulted by such characterizations.
… interested in people as long as they are cis correct? 🙄
GTFOH. Does everything have to revolve around gender issues.
@@bobby-joeogadu2533 no absolutely not! But this video is about interest in human beings, no? And most things, dare I say everything, however is about human existence, human experiences, human relationship to everything else etc and inside of that is gender so my initial comment was not out of line or out of order.
Chimamanda looks tired, she needs a break
Nope, she’s just aging
She is 45 years old
@@princessaluchi8924 why did you even bring up her age
I think the studio light was too close to her tired eyes 😅.
@@teethart9865 Yes, that's very likely
She too transphobic….
So individuals are forced to like other peoples way of life…? Girl be individualistic everyone should not like your way of life that’s actually a bad way of thinking for your mental health and self esteem.
@@princessaluchi8924 You sound like a white supremacists but again you’re free to have your own opinion just like I do
The most overrated writer ever.
art is subjective and I wouldn't say Chimanda is overrated. She is simply not your cup of tea
🤣🤣🤣Coming from a hungry dog of the tribe of hate and dirt...I'm a Ghanaian and I've been noticing your hates toward the igbos,just because she's Igbo...
She has been making Africa proud for decades.one of the top most influential and powerful women in the world you call overrated.lol.
What? I see the green monster behind you 😮😮
@@sunnymars5701 Thank you!
@@sunnymars5701 thank you♥️