Volume VI Special Issue VII October 2026

Name of Author : Deekshetha R, Dr. K. Nagarathinam

Title of the paper : Who Can Write Biafra? Negotiating Narrative Authority in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Half of a Yellow Sun

Abstract: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Half of a Yellow Sun 2006 is a historical novel set during the Nigerian Civil War 1967 to 1970. This paper investigates the struggle for narrative authority and addresses the critical question of who possesses the right to document the history of a peoples suffering. By contrasting Richard, a British outsider seeking to record the Biafran experience, with Ugwu, an Igbo houseboy who becomes both a soldier and a writer, Adichie presents history as a complex ethical undertaking. Employing postcolonial literary criticism and cultural memory studies, this analysis explores the intersections of cultural belonging, lived experience, trauma, guilt, and authorship. The argument advanced is that neither outsider empathy nor insider identity alone confers complete narrative authority. Rather, the novel constructs narrative authority through a multiplicity of voices and by foregrounding marginalized experiences, while recognizing the limitations inherent in every narrator. Ultimately, the paper contends that a plurality of voices is essential for comprehending the complexity of Biafran history and the profound human suffering engendered by war.

Keywords : Biafra, Narrative authority, Cultural memory, Postcolonialism, Historical fiction.

DOI :

Page Number : 47-55