Diaspora and Hybrid Identities in Emeka Nwabueze’s Echoes of Madness

Abstract

People are different from one another; but the one thing that links us all together is that we all have culture. Besides, we cannot talk about culture without people. Culture has inherent values and systems peculiar to it. Different societies and places manifest different cultures, and since people usually move from place to place, they get in contact with other cultures of other countries or places. If they do so, they get to know other values and cultural systems and might adopt a characteristic of another culture. This experience is called diaspora and these people probably establish hybrid identities. Diaspora and hybridity are central topics in Emeka Nwabueze’s ‘Echoes of Madness’, which was first staged in 1993. Obiora Nnazodie, the main character, is an African, who has lived in America for fifteen years. He moves back to Africa again and faces another culture shock. This paper looks at hybrid identity in relation to Obiora Nnazodie. The objective is to understand that specific diasporic experience so that governments of the world would have understanding of such experiences for policy making. The method is qualitative.